


Castaways

by imaderice



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, Just gays, Trauma, gays, mature cuz dead bodies are explained in detail, past trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:22:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27602743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaderice/pseuds/imaderice
Summary: For Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose; they wanted to go take a break, a vacation in celebration of achieving a new chapter in their lives.Blake Belladonna, however, struggles to find the courage to face her past as well as her parents whom she has not contacted in several years.Sun Wukong just wanted to see the world and snuck into a cruise ship with the crew none the wiser.Now these five young adults found themselves marooned on a desolate island. Together they find ways to survive and must rely on each other until help arrives.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose/Sun Wukong
Comments: 16
Kudos: 124
Collections: Bumbleby Big Bang 2020





	Castaways

**Author's Note:**

> This is my entry for the Bumbleby Big Bang! Thank you for the mods who had coordinated this event, it was a fun experience!
> 
> Life hit hard for me, especially around late July. I was contemplating whether I would drop out of the event or not because I didn't think I would be able to finish this at all. But I'm surrounded by so many supportive and amazing friends that inspired me to keep going, especially my partner! 
> 
> My partner has been nothing but supportive ever since we had been assigned together and I am so honored and thankful that a person like them came into my life. The art they made for this fic is amazing and I encourage you all to follow them on twitter and tumblr! 
> 
> You won't ever regret following FoxaOxa!  
> Tumblr: foxaoxa.tumblr.com  
> Twitter: @FoxaOxa

Blake awoke to the sun bearing down on her, the skin on the back of her legs and arms felt stiff, painful whenever she moved. Her body felt horrible, heavy and sore, she can feel sand everywhere on her body. It took great effort for her to push herself up to her knees then sit on the sand. 

She groaned as she straightened her legs, turning them over to inspect them. She didn't know long she had been asleep, but she was thankful that however long it may have been, the sunburn on her legs and arms were not that severe. Although, for a few days, she will feel discomfort. 

A particular strong gust of wind blinded Blake for a moment as her hair obstructed her vision. She felt something soft hit her side as Bake struggled to get her hair out of her face. The hot blaring sun had not been kind to her hair, it didn't help that it had been wet from the salty waters of the sea, but she was still able to put it up into a bun even without a hair tie to keep it in place.

The wind was gone by the time she finished and Blake noticed what had hit her side. It was a purple zipped up hoodie, slightly damp, reeking of seaweed and dried seawater. She glanced around the area, debris littered the beach she was on. Suddenly her heart pounded in her ears as she stood to her feet, she struggled to stand, panic settling into the pit of her stomach. There were suitcases and boxes that were scattered all around her, but the one thing that had her sole attention was the large metal piece jutting out of the water.

_ SS Beacon of Hope _

Slowly, Blake approached the water, still clutching onto the jacket in her hands. It was ironic, a sick play of irony that life had given her. She turns, head turning from side to side. She stumbled back over something behind her, falling onto her ass. 

Dull, grey eyes looked back at her, their dirty blonde hair in disarray and covered in sand. Their face was forever stuck with a pained expression. It took Blake a moment to realize that this person wasn’t breathing, it took a few more seconds for her to process, that this person was also missing half their body. The remains of their innards spilled onto the sand, and the smell. The smell hit her nostrils immediately. Blake’s hands trembled before she let out a gut wrenching scream, scrambling back from the body, kicking it away as she did so by instinct.

Guilt briefly came to her as she backed away, it was quickly forgotten by her stomach. She turned to the side, the body out of sight as she threw up what was left in her, which was mostly sea water. Tears pricked at her eyes at the burning feeling of her throat. Blake stayed hunched over, wiping her nose as she sniffled, coughing softly. 

She was alone. In the middle of nowhere, with a dead body. Stuck in an island far from civilization. 

-x-

The scream startled the two people in the forest. One was tall and had blonde hair and lilac eyes, her right arm wrapped loosely in bandages and on a makeshift sling, restlessly pacing back and forth. Her companion sat underneath a tree, her hair white as snow and eyes the lightest blue that anyone had ever seen, her left eye covered by a bandage. 

They jumped at the sudden sound, having been hours since they found themselves ashore on the island. It didn’t take a genius to know that they sounded terrified.

"Great, we're going to die," The girl with white hair said dryly, looking towards the direction of the scream. "Whoever that is might be eaten by whatever predator lurks in this godforsaken island." 

"Weiss, shut the fuck up," The blonde picks up the hatchet that she found in the lifeboat. "C'mon, we need to check that out." 

"If we die, it will be on your head, Yang," Weiss huffed, shouldering the backpack that they salvaged and filled it with necessary supplies they found floating in the water.

Yang said nothing in return, trying to figure out where the sound had come from. She had hoped that it was her sister, hoping that the annoying little gremlin had survived the shipwreck. That somehow, even when their life raft had capsized and separated Yang’s sister from them and three others that managed to get on the life raft, she ended up at the same island as them and hopefully had someone with her and not floating in the waters among the other deceased passengers they had come across.

But from the sound, Yang knew that it wasn't Ruby.

"Yang?" Weiss asked tentatively, hugging herself as she trailed behind the blonde. "Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine," She gritted her teeth, swinging the hatchet with her left to cut down a plant that blocked their path. "Keep close to me, we can't lose each other and we're not sure what's in this forest. It's not that different from the woods in Patch, but still..." 

Weiss pursed her lips, not wanting to push Yang anymore than she needed to. She understands her concern, understands the urge to find her sister or atleast a clue about her whereabouts. She wanted to look for her best friend too. Weiss tightens her grip on the straps of the backpack. Its size almost as tall as her, she struggled with the weight, especially trying to keep most of the weight on one shoulder, but she trekked on without complaint.

It took them a while, but the direction that Yang had been leading them ended up at the beach. Weiss stayed underneath the shade of the trees as Yang walks on, lilac eyes searching the area vigilantly. She turned back to face Weiss, shrugging her shoulders. Yang bent down and placed down the hatchet, the head on the ground and let go of the handle, both watched as it landed on its side. 

It was a method Yang had used to make their way in the forest, marking trees along the way to ensure they wouldn't get lost. At first Weiss had commented how the method was unreliable and plain idiotic, but she had nothing better to offer. She had spent her time camping in the woods of Yang's home in a little island called Patch in Vale, but that was only because Yang and her sister were there to make sure she was safe. Her only knowledge of survival was only limited to what she knew in Patch. 

Here in a deserted island, with no means of getting medical help or any form of help for that matter, she was helpless and the only one she could rely on was Yang. 

"C'mon," Yang picked up the hatchet. "We've got some fresh water from that river we found and have some left over rations. We best start on finding shelter and the best place to do that is here on the shore." 

"Why the shore?" Weiss looked back into the forest, the path they've paved was clear as day. If anyone else survived the shipwreck, they would see the marks they've made. 

"Open space, we could even find something along the shore to eat, maybe some clams or crabs," Yang placed the axe on her shoulder and began walking to the direction the axe pointed them to. "This isn't like Patch where we know what predators are here, so the safest place would be the shore. It would also be easier to send out a signal if another boat or helicopter passes by." She turned to Weiss, holding out her hand to her. "Let me carry that." 

"It's fine, I can carry it," Weiss said and kept on walking. 

"Weiss, it's gotten heavier since we've managed to get water and you still have your injured shoulder. Yeah we popped it back into place but it still needs to heal up," Yang reasoned and gestured to the bruised area. She didn't give her any time to protest, placing down the hatchet to lean against her leg and took the backpack from her. "We don't want both of your shoulders out for the count." 

Weiss said nothing and relented, but it didn't mean she wouldn't pout about it. Yang couldn't help but chuckle at the action as they kept walking. 

It took them half an hour, almost nearing sundown when they found another living person. She was sitting along the treeline, safe from the blistering sun, her knees pulled in close to her chest, black hair tied into a messy bun. As they walked closer to the woman, they noticed her hair moved, or what they thought was her hair but when she turned her attention towards them the ears on top of her head moved back and flat against her head. 

The woman stood to her feet, posture guarded, as if she were ready to run at the first sign of danger.

"Uh...hi?" Yang scratched her cheek, the hatchet resting on her shoulder. Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes closed. Yang turned to her. "What?" 

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Were you the one that screamed earlier?" 

The woman studied them, refusing to answer the question as her amber eyes landed on the hatchet resting on Yang's shoulder. Finding survivors didn't mean that she was safe, in fact, without knowing who they are they're as much of a threat as the wildlife in the island.

Weiss slapped Yang's arm, gesturing to the hatchet she held in her hand.

Yang scowled at her and dropped the hatchet a couple feet in front of them. Not too close to make the woman see them as a threat and not too far if Yang needed it in case of an emergency, like something coming out of the forest to attack them. It was unlikely but Yang didn’t want to take their chances. 

"I'm Yang," She then points her thumb to her side. "And this is-"

"Weiss Schnee," The woman cut her off, glaring at Weiss and somehow her ears went farther back, almost molding into her dark hair. Her gaze landed on the bandaged eye for a second, before locking her haze with Weiss.

"And you are?" Weiss asked tiredly, massaging her forehead with one hand, knowing full well that she would not be liked by this person and would probably spend the rest of their time being cautious around each other. It was the kind of mental effort that she did not need along with being stuck at an island. "Let’s just get it over with, please? I know what my family did, my grandpa is a racist, my father more so. I'm a Schnee so I'm a horrible person and all that, but we're stuck in this dreadful island and trying to survive until help arrives so can we please not be hostile to one another and just cooperate? I'm not going to kill you for being a faunus and neither will this brute either."

Weiss finished, her thumb directed towards the person beside her.

"Hey, this brute saved you from drowning with one arm last night, princess," Yang glared at Weiss playfully. 

"I'm well aware and I will always be grateful," Weiss said, her voice soft and genuine. "But you're still a brute."

"Blake," Both turned towards the woman, who seemed to have relaxed during their bickering, her left hand gripping her right elbow tightly. "My name's Blake." 

"Well, Blake," Yang smiles with her teeth, left hand extended towards their new acquaintance. "Let's stay alive together, yeah?" 

Blake hesitated at first, but stepped forward to shake her hand. She couldn't help but admire how defined the muscles on Yang's arms were, the yellow sleeves of her shirt were clearly ripped off to better accommodate the heat and lessen the hindrance on her. Her eyes landed on Yang's right arm in a makeshift sling, and covered in bandages. Blake let go of her hand and averted her eyes before she would look like a creep. 

She licked her dry lips, not knowing what to say to these people. If Yang noticed her looking at her arm, she didn't show it.

She turned to Weiss, expecting to have her glare at her or at least look at her like she was the dirt beneath her feet. Instead she found herself face to face with a plastic water bottle. Tentatively she took it in her hands, looking between Weiss and at the offered beverage. 

"I thought maybe you haven't drank anything yet," Weiss said, looking around at the remains of the ship that have drifted to shore. Most of which were at the bottom of the sea. "It wouldn't be ideal for you to be dehydrated." 

"Thank you," Blake mumbled, twisting the cap off and brought it up to her lips. 

Blake didn't realize how thirsty she had been. The water was slightly warm, but it felt amazing as it went down her parched throat. She could still feel the slight burning feeling of when she threw up, but it was eased by the water. She didn't notice she had drunk it all until she had her head tilted back and the flow of water was gone. 

A blush crept up along her cheeks, and she sheepishly handed the bottle back to Weiss, who didn't look at all bothered that Blake drank everything and had instead returned the bottle into the bag on Yang's back. 

"Don't worry," Yang chuckled and went to pick up the hatchet. "We have a few more bottles in here and found a river in the forest, we can get it refilled in the morning." 

"Yes yes, we have a lot of things planned in the morning. As much as I am eager to find food and to preserve the rations in case of emergencies since the expiration dates aren't until we're all forty," Weiss waved her left hand as she picked up a stick from the ground. "We still need to find a place suitable for camp and to build a fire."

"Well, this place isn't so bad," Yang points into the forest with her hatchet. "I see some big leaves we could use for the bedding and the roof. One of you might need to help me chop down some wood to build a temporary shelter and we could either move somewhere else tomorrow or I'll start making a long term shelter here." 

“These don’t look dead and sturdy enough, also wide enough to fit all of us for a lean to shelter.” Yang walked in between two tall thin trees that were several feet apart and shook each one, even going as far as hitting them with her left shoulder. The leaves rustled, some even falling from the branches and drifted to the ground. “I can make a better shelter once we settle on a more permanent area.”

“I-” Blake hesitated, nervously clutching the purple hoodie in her hands. “I don’t think this is a great place to set up camp.” 

“How so?” Weiss asked

Blake’s tongue ran along her dry lips. Her gaze went towards the shoreline then closed her eyes, her lower lip trembling as she took a deep breath. 

“There’s...There’s someone along the shore,” Blake explains slowly. “Or rather.. half of someone.”

The speed of which the two moved had startled Blake, both of them running towards the shore in search of the body. She stayed back, watching the two look around. When Weiss found the body, she laid a hand on her chest as she heaved a heavy sigh, crouching down and hiding her face in between her knees. Yang had the same relieved expression as Weiss, but remained standing. 

From afar she can see Yang talk, with Weiss nodding in response. The two moved, opening one of the suitcases and taking out a couple of clothing from within. Both laid the clothes atop the body, weighing it down with driftwood or a large coral that washed along the shore. 

“We’ll make camp here,” Yang said once they came back. “It’s getting dark and we might not have enough time to look for a better place to settle down for the night.”

The thought of sleeping knowing that there was a dead body nearby was unnerving for Blake, she wasn’t superstitious in any way. It was just that her mind was too imaginative for her own good and the way those dull gray eyes looked at her, the way their face was scrunched up in pain. It would haunt her dreams, another thing she would have to worry at night. It was like life was insisting on giving her a collection of trauma to live with. 

They set off to work, with Weiss’ injured shoulder, it was up to Blake to help Yang with cutting down some sturdy branches to make the skeleton of the shelter. Yang was a bit hesitant to let Weiss gather up the leaves from the short palm trees, that cutting them down would strain her shoulder, but she insisted and promised to stop if her shoulder bothered her too much. Which turned out that she only managed four before her shoulder couldn’t handle much heavy lifting that made Weiss start gathering wood for the fire instead. 

Yang handed Blake a second hatchet that managed to stay on the life raft and both women set to work chopping wood. Yang showed Blake what kind of branches they needed and a little bit over an hour later they managed to get around several thick branches that were at least long enough to make sure they would not be completely drenched if it were to rain that night. 

At some point Yang had to instruct Blake how to get bark fibers to use as rope using a knife that she found within the bag they salvaged. She had explicitly told her to get the inner bark and not the outer layer while she went to get more of the leaves. 

By the time they finished gathering what they needed Weiss had just finished starting a fire, slowly adding the wood. 

“I didn’t know a Schnee would know how to make a campfire,” Blake commented, as she pounded the fibers using a rock just as Yang showed her.

“Well, in my family only my older sister and I have some semblance of survival skills, more so my sister,” Weiss fanned the embers with what looked like a laminated sign for ice cream. Blake wondered where she found it. “I learned a few from Yang and her sister on our camping trips. I was hesitant at the thought of sleeping outside in the wilderness, but I couldn’t say no to Ruby.” 

“Is that the name of Yang’s sister?” 

Weiss nodded, her mood turned slightly somber as she focused entirely on the campfire more than she needed to. Blake assumed she had struck a sensitive topic and went back to work on the fibers, noting to never mention Ruby to Yang if that was how Weiss reacted. 

“Besides, the bag that we had found, it seemed to have belonged to someone who was either travelling or was coming back from a camping trip.” Weiss held up what seemed to be a rectangular metal block, attached to it with a chain was a black metal plate with a serrated side. “We found this in a small pocket.” 

By the time the sun started setting, the campfire gave them enough light to work as day turned to night. Weiss had set out to scavenge for anything useful along the shore, going through suitcases and containers, the only light source she had was a small torch she made. Once in a while Yang would blow on a whistle that hung around her neck, waiting for one in response from Weiss. At some point Yang blew on her whistle three times in quick succession and Weiss came back with a bucket filled with whatever she managed to find. 

Weiss took over Blake’s work with the fibers to start making rope and while she did that Blake helped Yang with making the shelter. Yang lifted up the thickest branch they had on her shoulder while Blake tied them with the orange rope she was handed, which had a rubber ring tied to the end.

“Why did you have me get the fibers and Weiss to make the rope if we already have rope?” Blake asked as she tied off one end and made her way to the other.

“Because,” Yang grunted, adjusting her hold on the small log to straighten it. “This should be for emergencies, when Weiss makes a decent amount of rope tonight I would have more to work with for a better shelter. Besides we can't cut this.” 

“Good point,” 

Blake realized how lucky she was to have been found by two survivors that managed to get a hold of proper equipment before reaching the island and actually knew what to do to survive the wilderness. She knew how to find shelter, make a fire and to fish, but these two have gone to multiple camping trips. Both of them were lucky even when their life raft had capsized, they somehow were still able to keep most of the emergency equipment within it. It’s just that she didn’t think she would meet a Schnee who would know any sort of survival skills. 

Yang starts putting up the roof, leaning the branches onto the support beam at an angle that gave them space to sit up under it. Together they made short work of placing leaves and other vegetation to cover the gaps to keep the heat in and the cold out. The remaining few branches that were left were placed over the leaves to keep them in place. Blake decided to go the extra mile to also cover the sides of their shelter and when she was done, Yang had set up three large rocks around the campfire. 

“What are you doing?” Blake asked, sitting beside Weiss by the fire. 

“We found a banana tree earlier and took like a few from it,” Yang placed the bucket on top of the rocks and over the fire. She rummaged through their backpack and took two bottles of water and poured it in. “It isn’t ripe yet, but you can still eat them if you boil or fry them and since we don’t have cooking oil, boiling it is.” 

Blake hummed at the new information given to her and watched as Weiss continued to twist the fibers together. The sun had finally set, the orange and golden hues on the sky turned dark, submerging them in darkness with only the light from the fire and the moon their only saving grace. Blake watched Weiss work, she had made good progress while they set up shelter, but it seemed like it wasn’t fast enough for Yang.

“Any slower there, Weiss and I might turn old before you finish,” Yang said, placing the green bananas into the bucket and adding two more sticks into the fire. 

“Shut up,” Weiss glares at Yang. “I still have an injured shoulder. I also just learned this a couple of months ago too so excuse me for being a little slow.” 

“Well, at least you got dry wood this time,” Yang laughed as she ducked at the sandal thrown her way. 

“Do an inventory check, if you got time to make fun of me,” Weiss huffed out, going back to her work.

Yang did just that, lifting up the bag and spilled all the contents on the sandy beach. Weiss closed her eyes with a sigh, mumbling to herself about the lack of tact of a brute as she went back to work. Blake watched on curiously, taking a handful of fibers and slowly copied what Weiss was doing. All of them worked in relative silence, Yang arranged the items while also checking the bananas, at least it was silent until Weiss asked something. 

“All these items washed ashore, but why haven’t there been any bodies, except the one we found?” 

Yang looked up from rummaging through what looked like a first aid kit. Blake wondered how many medical supplies they had remaining.

“Most likely they’ve been eaten by sharks,” Blake answered without pausing with her work. “We’re somewhere in Mistral, there are great whites in certain areas and various other types of sharks depending on the area. Chances are either those that didn't have a life jacket went down into the ocean and those that did were eaten by sharks."

If it was possible, Weiss’ face became paler, the color on her face drained as fear gripped her heart. Her hands froze from her work, trembling slightly.

“Ya-” 

“Don’t you go there, Schnee,” Yang warned and Blake didn’t know if it was a trick of the light from the fire but for a moment she saw her lilac eyes turn red. 

“But, what abou-” 

“She may not be as stubborn as you and I, but she’s stubborn enough,” Yang snapped at her. Blake’s ears pulled back against her head at the outburst. Yang noticed and took a deep breath, her shoulders relaxing. “We have three rocket flares and one smoke signal. We’ll use one flare and the smoke for when we call for help. Tomorrow I will use two of the flares, one around noon and another before the sun sets.” 

“If there are any survivors, they’ll see those and come find us.” 

It didn’t take long for Blake to realize that they were talking about Yang’s sister.

Silence fell between them for the rest of the night. A heavy and thick atmosphere that threatened to suffocate them all. Blake loved silence, she relished it, but this was something that made her uncomfortable. 

Once Yang had enough of the awkward silence she started up a conversation with Blake, asking her where she was from and why she had been on the Beacon. Blake told them she was taking the cruise ship back to her home and wanted to take the scenic route instead of getting on an airplane. 

Yang told her they were on vacation; celebrating. Weiss had just survived her residency and Ruby passed her board exam for mechanical engineering. They thought going on a cruise for vacation would be a nice change of pace for them as they usually go hiking into the woods as a means to relax.

"What exactly happened?" Blake asked, cooling the banana by blowing on it before she took a bite. It was surprisingly filling and somehow slightly sweet. "I can't remember much of last night. I just remember I was by the deck then nothing." 

"Something exploded," Yang sighed, scratching the back of her head. "I was awake when it happened, something happened in the engine room, I think, I don't know what. I didn't have time to ask and just got to where my sister and Weiss was. We got into a lifeboat along the rest of the passengers. Women and children first as they say, you know?" 

"Once we were out on the water, we watched as the ship burned until one huge explosion had finally made it sink like the Titanic. Anyone that was too close to the explosion didn’t make it and with the oil spill, some burned to death. Plenty of people managed to get on lifeboats but once the ship was gone and there were thousands of people in the water, panicking. Chaos ensued and people were fighting over the boats. We were far enough not to get caught up in it," Yang looks up at the night sky, leaning back against her left arm. "Couple hours later there was a storm. Our life boat capsized and here we are. The others might be lucky and survived the storm and are just out there. For those who weren’t on any boats once the storm arrived, I’d be surprised if they survived."

Blake struggled to remember most of what happened but came up with nothing.

"Think any harder and you might explode," Yang joked, gripping her right bicep. 

"Are you in pain?" Weiss asked, pausing in her task. Once she got a rhythm going she made great progress with the rope. 

"A little sore," Yang grunted. 

"I can give you something for the pain" Weiss offered, moving to stand, but Yang shook her head. 

"I can deal with it, don't worry," She adjusts her sling. "We only found one first aid kit." 

"Fine," Weiss clicked her tongue, clearly showing her disapproval. She turned to Blake. "You, however," 

Blake blinked at being addressed, head tilted in confusion when Weiss tied the end of her rope and walked towards the discarded pile of items she had taken from suitcases. She came back with a bottle of lotion in hand. 

"I saw how red your skin was earlier, it's not blistering but I can imagine how much discomfort you are feeling," Weiss hands her the bottle, face neutral. 

"Thanks," Blake said slowly as Yang snickered. 

"What's so funny, Xiao Long?" Weiss snaps, lacking any bite in her tone. 

Yang raised an arm in surrender, though she was still giggling to herself as Weiss stomped over to the shelter and laid down. Yang winked at Blake, causing her cheeks to blush a light pink. 

Yang stood and dusted off the sand from her butt, shaking her legs in hopes to dislodge the ones that had gotten into her shorts. She carried the bag with one arm and placed it within the shelter, lying down beside Weiss. 

"We better get some sleep," Yang said softly as Weiss shifted closer to her. "It's been one hell of a day."

-x-

When morning came Blake was first to rise. She shivered in the early breeze that passed by, goosebumps littered her skin. The campfire was nothing more than embers, but it still gave off a bit of heat as she stretched 

The night before was interesting, it was surely not what she had expected. Well, getting stuck in a deserted island on her way to Menagerie wasn't something she had expected either. 

She stretched her arms above her head, straining her back as it popped in multiple places. The slight discomfort of the sunburn wasn't as bad as it had been last night, though it was still uncomfortable. She turned to her companions to find that somehow during the night Weiss had moved closer to Yang that she had an arm wrapped around her waist, her head resting on Yang's shoulder. 

It wouldn't surprise Blake if Weiss had gotten cold in the night what with wearing only a white tank top and shorts.

The relationship between the two was still a mystery to Blake. From what she gathered last night was that Weiss was very close with Ruby and Yang, but to what extent was still unknown. She had thought that when she would meet a Schnee she would be met with disdain, a scowl on their face as they cast judgemental eyes upon her. Demanding to be at every beck and call whenever they would need something. The kindness she received from her went against everything that she had perceived what a Schnee would be, it was either that they weren't as bad as she was told or that Weiss didn’t agree with the ideals of her father. 

"Morning," 

Blake jumped at the sudden voice. It was soft, but being so lost in her thoughts it had still startled her a little. Yang sat up, careful to free her arm and not disturb Weiss from her slumber. 

"Good morning," Blake responded with a nod. 

"Since we're still alive, it is good, yeah?" Yang smiled, looking into the bucket. She pulled out a banana. "There's still two left. You should eat." 

"But then there's one left," 

"I'm not particularly hungry, I can eat later when we find more food," 

Blake looked at the offered fruit, biting her lower lip as her ears turned sideways. She took the banana, peeled back the skin and broke it in half. She offered it up to Yang. 

"I'm not that hungry either, but we should still have something in our stomach," 

Yang couldn't stop the smile on her face even if she tried. Her lilac eyes sparkling, Blake couldn't tell why. She took the other half and ate it, and they sat beside each other as they waited. 

Once Weiss had woken up and eaten, they decided it was best to look for a better place to set up camp. Not too far into the forest and close enough that they could reach the beach as soon as they could in case help arrived. Weiss took down the rope from their shelter while Blake gathered the rope that they made the night before. Yang was about to take the backpack once Blake had secured the rope on the side, but Blake beat her to it.

“I can carry that,” Yang said as a fact

“You can,” Blake agreed, a small grin on her face as she secured the backpack on her shoulders. “But I want to.” 

Yang narrowed her eyes at Blake, her lips pursed as they stared down at each other. It felt like they had been going for minutes, even hours, until Weiss had interrupted them with an annoyed huff. Light blue eyes narrowed at them both with her arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently on the ground. Yang rolled her eyes and pulled out the hatchet she had stuffed in the waistband of her ruined jeans. 

With Yang in the lead, cutting down any vegetation that blocked their way, Weiss took the middle slashing at the bark of the trees with a cross and lastly Blake took to the back, a hatchet in hand. 

At some point they had found themselves at a cave, two large boulders leaning against each other, the top was covered in enough dirt that grass and trees that had grown over the years. It was small, but large enough that the possibility of it being a predator’s home wasn’t unlikely. Blake knelt down as Weiss rummaged through the back for the torch she had found, handing it towards Yang, telling her that she wasn’t sure how much battery life it had left and it was best to use it as little as possible. 

“How are you sure that there’s nothing inside there right now?” Weiss asked, eyeing the entrance. 

“I don’t,” Yang placed the flashlight under her armpit and picked up a rock. She threw it in the air a few times. 

“Yang, no,” Weiss sighed, messaging her temples. 

“Yang, yes,” She threw the rock into the cave. Weiss and Blake stepped back, ready to run as they heard the rock bounce off twice inside before it went silent. “So nothing inside.” 

“Thankfully,” Blake muttered under her breath.

“You’re such a hazard to my health,” Weiss said aloud, her arms crossed.

They watched as Yang slowly walked into the cave while Weiss and Blake stayed back at the entrance. Yang didn’t have to go far to find the back of the cave. She checked the floor and walls for any signs of life, remnants of a meal, feces, anything that could tell her if bears or any type of predators have been in it. Satisfied that there weren’t any she went back outside.

“Doesn’t look like it’s been used by anything,” Yang looks around the area around them. “Although, we’re a bit far from any source of drinkable water,” 

“The river is that way, if I recall it correctly,” Weiss points off into the distance. “I’m not sure how far, since it took us an hour to find Blake, so maybe an hour or two of trekking. Maybe we’ll even find part of it closer to here.” 

“I think it’s worth the effort, but that’s just me,” Blake pipes in. “By the looks of the cave, all three of us can fit inside, maybe even two or three more people. But then again, getting water will be a hassle especially since we don’t have a way to store it other than the bottles of water that you guys have.” 

Yang scratched her head, pulled out her wallet from her back pocket and took out an black condom packet. 

“Are you serious?” Blake asked, her ears pinned back.

“You’re a lesbian,” Weiss deadpanned “Why do you even have that?” 

“Hey, I didn’t get “best wingman’ for nothing, Weiss,” Yang laughed with a wink. “Heard this thing can carry like a kilo of water or something.”

She left out the tidbit that even lesbians are able to use a condom.

“Great,” Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. “We have plastic bottles  _ and  _ a condom. Truly innovating.”

“My trimmed fingernails aren’t going to help us get more water,” Yang snickered. She shoved her wallet back into her pocket. “Kidding aside, we can come back if we don’t find anything else. We stay here for the night, head on over for the river, stock up on water, and more of those bananas and hopefully something else to eat.” 

“What about your plans on using the flares?” Weiss asked. 

“I’ll use it once we get settled, if we move we’re leaving a trail for them,” Yang points at the way they came from. “We’ll just mark arrows on the trees where we’ve moved so to whoever manages to find our trail, they’ll just follow it.” 

Weiss nodded at the plan, satisfied and Blake lowered the bag onto the ground and rolled her shoulders. Blake craned her neck to the side, pressing her fingers on her sore muscles. The sun was nearly high up into the sky, noon if she had to guess. They had been walking for most of the morning, looking for an area that could benefit their stay in the island. They were tired, covered in sweat and hungry, though they haven’t touched the rations since they haven’t found any reliable food source.

Yang sat and leaned back against a tree, hugging her injured arm to her chest. Weiss having kept an eye on her for the whole time did not miss the look of discomfort on her face.

“Let me see,” Weiss said as she knelt down beside Yang.

“I’m fine,” Her smile wavered, flinching away when Weiss slightly tugged at the sling. 

“Yang, let me see,” Weiss glared, and Yang tried her best to wave her off. Weiss closed her eyes with a sigh and when she opened them, she looked at Yang with a pleading look that she finally gave in. “Thank you.” 

Weiss helped take off the sling and carefully unwrapped the bandages around her arm. In her medical opinion, Yang should have not pushed herself as far as she had. The extent of her injury was that the majority of her right arm was red and riddled with blisters, without proper treatment soon, she wasn’t sure what the long term effects of the injury will be. She knows the list, having her fair share of burn victims from the hospital she worked in, but the repercussions vary from person to person and the situation. 

Yang hissed as her sensitive skin was exposed to the humid air, the occasional breeze of air giving her a moment of comfort. Weiss frowns, noticing that one of the blisters had popped. She clicked her tongue at the possibility of an infection. 

“Blake, please hand me the first aid kit and a bottle of water,” Weiss said politely, she looked up at Yang, her voice soft. “Answer me honestly, how much pain are you in right now?”

“Like a motherfucker,” Yang grinned. 

“I gathered,” Weiss said, scanning for any blisters that may have opened. 

“Is she alright?” Blake asked, handing Weiss the first aid kit. 

“She’s fine,” Weiss pulled out what looked like a small white tube of toothpaste. She squeezed out a generous amount of white cream into her hand. She rubbed her hands together and placed them on Yang’s arm. Yang breathed in sharply, biting her lower lip. “See? Fine.” 

Yang grunted as Weiss rubbed burn ointment along her arm, avoiding the open blister near her elbow. It should have been a feeling of relief to have the ointment on her skin, but Weiss’ hands felt hot against her skin that Yang had grit her teeth and kept her arm steady for her. By the time Weiss was done, Yang was left panting, her temple damp with sweat. 

“You have to drink more water than all three of us,” Weiss hands her the bottled water, “If possible at least a liter each day,” 

“We only have five of the five hundred mL bottles,” Yang eyebrows furrowed. 

“Then two goes to you, two for Blake because of her sunburn and one for me,” Weiss said with finality, loosely wrapping the compression bandage back on her arm. “Yang, you’re a risk for dehydration, you stay here while Blake and I go get some more water and those bananas.” 

“I can’t just stay here and do nothing!” Yang tried to stand, but Weiss pushed her back by her shoulders.

“You won’t be doing nothing, you will be resting,” Weiss argued, her grip tightened. “The more you expend energy, the more you sweat, the more you sweat, the more fluids you lose. You got  _ burned _ , Yang. You’re at a huge risk of dehydration and you either die from that or infections from your wounds not healing fast enough because you’re all dried up.”

“But-” 

“No buts,” Weiss relaxed, sitting back on her heels. “Stay here, we’ll use one of the flares before we leave. Doctor’s orders and that’s final.” 

-x-

“You’re not wary of me?” Blake questioned, stepping over a large root. 

Weiss gave her a sidelong glance, lips in a tight line, a certain expression came across her face. Before Blake could tell what it was she schooled her features, looking a bit more guarded. It took awhile for her to come up with an answer, the bucket in her left transferred to her right hand, breathing in deep. 

“I am. I won’t lie that Yang and I are not reckless to have me unarmed around a faunus alone,” Weiss kept her eyes ahead. “It won’t be the first that a faunus who has poor opinions on my family name would find a way to hurt me in any shape or form in retaliation to what my predecessors have done.” She turned her head, gazes locked. “But our situation calls for cooperation and we will not be able to achieve that if we are at each other’s throats. I have more pressing matters that need my attention than your heritage and I hope you share the same sentiment with mine.”

Blake stayed quiet as Weiss walked on, leading the way towards the river. The act of turning her back to the faunus spoke volumes to the amount of trust Weiss is willing to lay down. It wasn’t out of anything malicious or her way of looking down on Blake, no it was her way of saying that she will remain civil as long as she does too. 

“Besides, I’m sure Yang would have your head if you do anything to me,” 

There was no sliver of doubt in that statement. Blake knew, even with being down with one arm that Yang was a force that shouldn't be reckoned with. 

-x-

Once back to their temporary camp, with water and a few banana leaves for bedding in hand, they found Yang placing the last rock that made the firepit. Weiss clearly had a few choice words for ignoring her instructions, but held them back and gave Yang a bottle of water with a frown, though she didn’t look that upset. 

“Thanks, Doc,” Yang gulps down half the bottle. 

It was a couple of hours after they fired off the second flare, the forest darken around them. Blake had tended to the fire with Yang not too far beside her. Weiss had explicitly instructed Yang to keep her distance from the campfire, close enough to be warm but not too close to sweat too much. When they heard rustling, from deep within the forest, Yang had jumped to her feet, hatchet in hand. It was probably nothing, a rabbit or small animal, but Yang couldn't risk being careless. She already had been with her arm. 

Another bout of rustling as a figure emerged, a mop of blond hair on his head, a cut on his cheekbone and several smaller ones on his body. He was shirtless, wearing blue jeans with the right pant leg ripped to shreds. He was carrying someone on his back, they were smaller than him and looked to be unconscious, their arms limp around his shoulders. His yellow tail keeping their arms together lest they fall backwards.

"Oh thank the brothers," He gasped out, his voice hoarse, lips chapped. He leaned against the tree closest to him as relief washed over his entire being, his legs trembling. "I've finally found you guys." 

"You!" Weiss exclaimed, pointing a finger at him. A scowl evident on her features.

"Me," He squeaked out, nervously laughing. "I-uh, can you help me with Ruby please?" 

Weiss and Yang immediately sprang to their feet at the mention of her name as Sun's knees buckled underneath him. The support he had on the tree managed to keep him from dropping his passenger onto the ground. Yang placed Ruby's arm over her shoulder, her uninjured arm wrapped around her waist. With a clearer view, they could see the white button up shirt as a makeshift bandage was around her head, a small dark spot from where the wound lay underneath. 

Weiss helped Sun to his feet, grateful that he still had the energy to keep himself up, but was still struggling with his weight. Blake stepped in then. 

"You should lay out the leaves for Ruby," Blake said, gestured towards Yang who was slowly dragging the mentioned girl towards the fire. 

Weiss nodded, thanking Blake as she left. Blake adjusted her hold on Sun, guiding him towards the fire. She lowered him gently to the ground, handing him a half empty water bottle. He accepted it with a soft thank you, and with trembling hands brought it to his lips. Blake helped him by holding onto the bottle to keep it steady. He closed his eyes, moaning deeply as he relished the feeling of finally being able to drink water. 

Yang and Weiss hovered over Ruby, the former throwing out items from the bag in search of the first aid kit while the latter was undoing the bandage around her head to reveal the laceration on her right temple. Weiss lets out a sigh of relief when it didn't bleed nor showcased any signs of infection. Although it was still fairly deep, not enough to show bone, but it still needed to be stitched closed. Yang handed her the first aid kit upon request, pulling out the small packet that held the sutures. Weiss’ hands moved with precision, quick and efficient, doing her best to tend to the wound and being as clean as possible to avoid any possible infections. 

When it was done and the wound was bandaged properly, Yang moved to block Sun's view when Weiss started to pull up Ruby's hoody that had one sleeve ripped in half, checking for any injuries, satisfied that there weren't any bruising and there were minor cuts from being in the forest. 

"How long has she been unconscious?" Weiss asked, worried that even with all the commotion she has not woken up. It might be because of exhaustion, but didn’t want to rule out any other possibilities just yet. 

"All afternoon," He coughed into his fist. "She was fine this morning and last night, but we've been walking for so long with little water and food, she's exhausted." 

"You carried her all afternoon?" Yang asked and Sun nodded. She turned back to Ruby, pressing their foreheads together. "Thank you." 

"It's the least I could do," Despite his exhaustion showing, he still smiled at them. 

"How did you find each other?" Weiss asked, pouring a bit of water over the wound on his cheek to clean it. 

Sun told them that when he had made sure that people got onto the lifeboats. He jumped off of the ship when a particular explosion underneath the hull had made the ship sink completely, just barely escaped getting burned to a crisp from the oil spill. He saw everyone panicking and trying to get onto the boats despite them being full and had managed to find a door floating about, drifting away from the chaos of the wreckage. The door was barely kept afloat by his weight, but it was still enough. He found a dead woman in an orange ring buoy and took the buoy and let her body float down. 

When the storm came he had put in everything he had to hold onto the door, with the help of the buoy he was able to stay above the waves and in the midst of it all he found Ruby struggling against the storm. It took tremendous effort on his part to reach her. He had given up the buoy to Ruby as they held on against the weather. 

"I don't know how long it took for the storm to pass, we've been floating for so long and Ruby had to pull my hair to stop me from drinking seawater," Sun winced as Weiss dabbed at the cut on his cheek with a wet cloth with a little bit too much force. It wasn’t deep enough that needed to be sutured like Ruby’s. "It was almost morning when we found ourselves by the cliffs. If the storm was still raging by then we would've died crashing into the rocks. But that's where Ruby had hit her head when we tried to get around and find the shore. She slipped on some algae." 

"Was she nauseous at all? Or displayed any sort of unusual behavior?" Weiss asked, her brows furrowed as she went through different scenarios in her head. 

"Other than being exhausted, hungry and dehydrated?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "We have been walking around the forest, we found a place to stay the night. We found some berries but it was hardly filling. When we saw your flare we immediately went to whatever direction it came from. It didn't take long until Ruby didn't have the energy to walk so I started carrying her. She passed out at some point. We thought we lost our way until you sent out the second one."

Yang sat by Ruby's side, her sister’s head resting on her lap. From time to time she would slowly pour a bit of water into her mouth every few minutes. Ruby's throat bobbed as she swallowed, groaning slightly. Her skin was slightly pale, lips dry, the skin peeling off of it. Weiss had assured her that she was fine, that she just needed to rest, but Yang knew that Weiss was just as worried as she was. Yang brushed Ruby's bangs to the side and kissed her forehead beside the gauze.

Once everyone had dinner, Sun had helped Blake move Ruby inside the cave. Yang laid down beside her, placing a few leaves on top of Ruby to keep her warm for the night.

Blake had been right when she guessed that they could fit two more people into the cave with a little bit of extra room. All of them had decided it was best to lie down close to one another to stave off the cold of the night. Weiss however insisted she would be beside Yang.

She's a walking space heater, she had reasoned. 

-x-

It was still dark out when Yang woke up from her slumber. Something kept poking her face despite her efforts of swatting it away. In her sleepy state she thought that it was nothing more than a fly, a very big and heavy fly that seemed insistent on being on her cheek that felt very similar to poking. After a few more insistent pokes that she had opened her eyes to find silver orbs looking back at her. 

"Boop," Ruby whispered, poking her nose. 

"Ru-" Yang started.

Ruby shushed her, a hand clamped around her mouth. "You'll wake the others," 

"How long have you been awake?" Yang whispered, pulling Ruby's hand away from her face.

"Not too long ago," She croaked as she propped herself up on one elbow. "I'm a little hungry so I had to wake you, sorry."

"No, no it's okay," Yang sat up, jerking her head towards the entrance. "Wait outside, the fire is out but it's still warm and I'll get you something to eat."

"I half expected there to be no food," Ruby joked, struggling to get to her feet that Yang had to help her stand.

"Get out there," Yang slapped her bum as Ruby giggled. 

When she got out of the cave, she found Ruby throwing more wood into the fire, slowly bringing it back to life. Yang sat down beside her, handing her two bars of whatever rations were made of. All they knew from the packaging that it contained the optimal balanced nutrition and that it was halal certified, whatever that meant. Later in the day they would need to forage for more food, they needed to save their rations for emergencies. 

"Uncle Qrow was right," Ruby scrunched up her nose as she unwrapped the bar from it's waterproof packet. "This doesn't look appetizing at all." 

"Imagine that it's a cookie," Yang offered. Ruby rolled her eyes at her and took a bite. "Or a brownie." 

"Ugh, tastes a bit bland to be any of those," Ruby coughed. 

"Necessity overrules taste," Yang hands her a water bottle.

They sat in silence with Ruby chewing away at her meal, drinking in between bites. Looking up at the sky through the gaps of the trees above them. Ruby finished off the rest of the biscuit and leaned her head on Yang's shoulder, yawning. 

"I didn't think I'd see you again," Ruby whispered low, her voice small. 

"Me too," Yang leaned her head against Ruby's and released a contented sigh. “Don't you ever scare me like that ever again." 

Ruby giggled, squirming in her seat. "So who's that girl?" 

Yang could practically hear the smile on her face. 

"Weiss?" Yang tried to play off. "Did you hit your head too hard that you can't remember your own best friend?" 

"Yang- what...ugh you're such a dork!" Ruby shoved Yang's shoulder, snorting. 

"Hey, hey!" Yang bit back a laugh. "Watch the arm, nerd. Weiss will kill you if a blister pops."

Ruby turned to look at her, eyes narrowed, a deep frown on her face. Yang looked back, her lips pressed together as she struggled to keep a straight face. Seconds later both fell into a fit of giggles, leaning against each other as they covered their mouths with their hands lest they wake the others from their slumber. It took them a few moments to settle down, slightly out of breath, traces of a giggle on their lips. 

"Seriously though," Ruby broke the silence. "Who is she?" 

"A native, lived here all her life and this is her cave," Yang said with a scoff as Ruby rolled her eyes. "Kidding aside, we found her when Weiss and I were looking for shelter. We had a rough start but so far it's been smooth sailing." 

"She's pretty," Ruby stated. 

"Ruby…" Yang warned

"Hey, you never know!" Ruby threw her hands into the air. "We might live here for the rest of our lives and you might want, like, a forest wife or something." 

"What, is Weiss not good enough?" Yang ruffled her hair.

"Quit it!" Ruby slapped her hand away, head tilted to the side, one eyebrow raised. "Are you into Weiss?" 

"Definitely not," Yang chuckles. "A bit too prickly for my taste." 

"I'm telling her you said that,"

"You snitch,"

They stayed like that until morning came. Leaning against each other and sharing what they've gone through while being separated. Ruby told Yang about the storm, how she had a nightmare about drowning and woke up struggling to breathe. She remembered the way her lungs hurt, of being suffocated. She remembered how close she was of losing consciousness out in the sea, her strength leaving her and her lungs burning for air. It broke Yang's heart that she wasn't there to chase those nightmares away, even as adults, Ruby would always seek out Yang whenever she had a bad dream, but this was more than a bad dream. Ruby had been left traumatized by the experience.

"I thought I was in one of those dreams within a dream," Her voice trembled. “I thought you weren’t real.” 

Yang gestured for Ruby to move to her other side so that she could hug her sister. She went on her hands and knees to do so, leaning back into Yang as a muscular arm wrapped around her. 

"Well this is real and I got you," Yang whispered into her hair, kissing the side of her head. "I'll always be here for you." 

-x-

When Blake woke the next morning, she was slightly annoyed to find a yellow monkey tail on her face. Thankfully, Sun wasn't as restless in his sleep as his tail was. She noticed when she sat up that two people were currently not present. It had seemed that their unconscious patient had woken up along with her sister. Looking outside, she can see them sitting in front of the campfire. 

"Good morning," Blake said once she was near the two. 

Yang jumped at her voice, her left hand clutching onto her chest while Ruby let out a surprised squeak, doing the same action Yang had done. Blake didn't see much of the family resemblance between the two, one being that their hair and eyes were different colors. Not only that but Yang was taller, with a muscular build and broad shoulders, wider hips. Unlike Yang, Ruby was shorter and smaller, but her body slim but still sported a lean muscular build. Though they did share a similar skin color with Ruby with a slightly darker shade and Yang having freckles.

At that moment though, she had wondered how close they would be to have the same reaction or mannerisms. 

"Cheese and crackers, Blake!" Yang half yelled, half whispered. "A little warning next time!" 

"If you're gonna swear, fucking swear," Blake couldn't stop the smile from forming, amused by such avoidance to cuss. Yang gasped dramatically.

"A child is present!" Yang shoved Ruby's head against her chest. 

Ruby struggled with the grip Yang had on her, but with only one hand she had managed to get herself free in no time. 

"I am twenty four years old!" Ruby pushed Yang away with a growl. She checked the bandage on her forehead if it had been disturbed by the scuffle. "I can swear like any adult!" 

Yang gave her a blank look. 

"I just choose not to!" 

Blake snorted at the way the two sisters bickered, their interaction was clearly amusing to watch. She had wondered what it would have been like to have a sibling if her own. She shook that thought aside, another thing she was grateful for being an only child was that she had less people to disappoint, to hurt. 

"What's the plan for today?" Blake questioned, sitting down across the sisters, the campfire between them. 

"Since we have more people now, we have to find a way to store more water," Yang gestured towards the empty water bottle by their feet which Ruby took. "We only have five and Weiss is forcing me to drink three bottles a day. So that leaves one for two of you guys." 

"Me and Sun stumbled on some bamboo around here, if we can get at least two or three I can make ones twice as big as these. It won't be pretty but it's better than nothing," Ruby shook the bottle in her hand. "I saw the rope that you guys made and we can add slings so we don't have to carry them in our hands and can get more in one trip." 

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Yang asked. 

"I saw it in a youtube video," Ruby shrugged nonchalantly. 

Before Yang could say anything else about the matter Blake swept in with another problem. "What about food?" 

"We can't rely on the banana trees for so long, since there's five of us now we'd soon run out in a few days if help hasn't arrived yet," 

"Argus was still a week and a half away, meaning that by the time they realized we haven't arrived they won't start looking until the third day when they've gathered everything they need for the search parties," Ruby scratched her cheek as she poked a stick into the dirt, her tongue sticking out as she did the math.

"We also have to take into account how off course we've gone," Blake said and Ruby nodded.

"They'd arrive by where the ship had sunk in a week at most or if we're lucky an Atlas naval ship might be around these waters so that would be two or three days of travel time saved," Ruby wrote down the numbers on the dirt. "By estimation, help would arrive in a week, maybe two if this island is too far out from where the ship sank."

"So we have to survive for two weeks at least," Yang clarified out loud, but then held her chin with her thumb and forefinger as she thought. Blake couldn't help but find it adorable. "At most, how long would it be?"

"A month," Ruby sighed deeply, scratching her cheek yet again. "Maybe a bit more. They'd be focused on finding the ones who were in the lifeboats, but there is a chance they'll find us first."

"Better than no chances at all," Yang propped her chin up in the palm of her hand. 

When the remaining two had finally woken up Ruby told them the tasks they needed to do. Weiss had volunteered to get more water along with Blake. Sun had no objections to getting the bamboo and Yang handed him her hatchet. Ruby at some point decided to go with Sun, not wanting any of them to be walking around alone in case they got lost or found themselves in trouble. 

Weiss looked over everyone's injuries, adding burn ointment onto Yang's arm, which still elicited pained grunts and leaving her panting for breath. With them being low on supplies, Weiss was forced to let Ruby use the current bandage she had as long as possible. Ruby helped Weiss inspect her eye and both gave a sigh of relief when she opened her eye, despite the wound had cut across, she was still able to see properly. The bleeding had stopped at some point and the gauze had been coated heavily with blood, they needed to change the bandages.

"That's going to scar," Weiss grumbled as Ruby placed a new gauze over her eye, taping it in place. 

"Chicks dig scars," Yang shrugged, she lifted her right arm "I'm sure as hell I'd get a wicked scar on this arm, it'll look like half a sleeve tattoo!" 

"Oh that would be so awesome!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly. "Would you get an actual tattoo on it?" 

The two sisters talked animatedly over what tattoo would look best, one that wouldn't just cover the scar but would fuse together.

Yang not wanting to be alone again insisted she join Blake and Weiss. Of course, Weiss adamantly refused the notion, stating why Yang needed to stay and rest. Blake realizing that neither of them would stand their ground offered a compromise, they would rest every half an hour and Yang would not exert herself more than necessary. Both were hesitant at first, but it was better than nothing.

Yang handed Ruby the orange rope with the rubber ring, explaining that they could tie together multiple bamboos and drag them back to camp.

Regrettably, they had no more water to provide the two with, but Sun had assured them that they'll be fine, especially that they were able to get some rest the night before and have eaten. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing at all. 

"You hit your head," Weiss told Ruby with narrowed eyes. "Don't do anything strenuous."

Ruby merely saluted to which Weiss rolled her eyes at. She was being a bit overbearing, Blake thought, but she wasn't a medical professional. She didn't know the underlying issues of hitting your head and sleeping for more than twelve hours and walking around like nothing had happened. Maybe Ruby was masking the extent of her injuries, she'd never know. 

Blake walked ahead with the hatchet, with Yang behind her and Weiss at the back using the branch she sharpened the night before as a walking stick. Now that they knew the way and reusing the path that they've made to reach the river, the time it took them originally had significantly lessened, even when Weiss demanded the mandatory breaks for Yang. 

They've arrived at the river with no problem or delays other than Weiss demanding they rest. Yang situated herself along the edge, dipping her legs into the water. Blake watched as her body shivered in response to the cold and leaned back. 

Weiss got to work immediately on refilling the water while Blake decided she should try her hand at catching fish. Granted, it's been years since she's been fishing with her mom, but the muscle memory is still there. 

Blake rolled her pant legs above her knees and walked up to a shallow area of the river with the most rocks to use as a foothold. She held the spear above her head with her dominant hand, eyes vigilant, her ears flicked as she waited. In a flash, she drove the spear into the water in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked. 

Blake lifted the spear, sighing in disappointment. "Fishing."

Not to be deterred by one failure, she raised the spear again, entirely focused on keeping her eyes glued to the water below for the slightest silhouette of a fish. Blake wasn't able to catch anything after several tries. Growing frustrated as time went on.

She let out a huff, contemplating whether to give up or not, but then they wouldn't have food. Yang was right, they couldn't rely on the bananas much longer, they only did find only four trees and there were more mouths to feed. She brought it down into the water again and she felt the wood in her hands twitch, her ears stood at attention, her body froze on the spot thinking the spear had slipped on the boulder she stood on. Slowly, she brought it up to find a decently sized fish, still struggling against the spear even when impaled. Blake raised it up higher before the fish could wriggle itself free.

Blake couldn't help but let out a laugh, surprised that she caught an actual fish. It wasn’t that big, could probably satisfy someone’s hunger for an hour or two but it was better than nothing. She watched as it flailed. She quickly went back to where Weiss was and took the bucket, filling it half-way with water and dumping the fish in it. It flopped around, the water stained by its blood. 

She felt a thrill, a sense of satisfaction that she went back into place, the bucket now placed near the riverbank. 

Yang from the sidelines, found it captivating. The way Blake's hair stuck to her face as water splashed around her. The white shirt she wore clung to her skin, turning transparent that she could see the bra underneath. She watched as the muscles underneath tensed as she stabbed the water.

"Oh boy," Yang swallowed thickly.

Silently, Yang cheered her on, being just as disappointed when Blake wasn't able to catch anything, but whenever she did. Yang loved the way Blake was determined to catch something, the first few tries she sympathized with her, knowing how hard spear-fishing was. Neither her or Ruby had tried it before, but they knew of it by principle. 

"Yang, your gay is showing again," Weiss splashed water her way, giving her a knowing smirk.

"Shut up," Yang laughed, splashing back. 

"Stop ogling and help me clean the fish," Weiss pulled her towards where the bucket was. "I don't know how and you have to talk me through it." 

"Alright alright!" Yang waved her off, getting up. 

Weiss handling fish was enough of a distraction for Yang to keep her from staring at Blake like a creep too much. The first time she had grabbed the smallest fish, when it flailed weakly in her hands she nearly threw it into the water with a shriek. Yang hadn't laughed that hard in a long time, giving instructions in between breaths. 

"Yang! This isn't funny!" Weiss shrilled, her face turning red from either anger or embarrassment. Yang couldn't tell. She probably should've been scared that Weiss had a knife in her hand but she just burst into more laughter.

"Could've fooled me, princess!" Yang wiped the tears from her eyes. "Oh god, that felt good." 

Weiss' glare, if possible, intensified and Yang took the fish from the ground, lifeless. She dumped it into the river to wash off the dirt and blood. 

"Okay, serious time," Yang said with the lingering traces of her laughter. "Use the blunt edge of the knife and hold onto the fish tail tightly" 

Weiss followed as instructed, hesitating so a moment expecting the fish to come alive and flail around again. Once she was sure that it wasn't going to move again held onto its tail. 

"Good, now push backwards towards the head and the scales should flip off," Yang shook her head, grabbed Weiss' wrist to guide her. "Do it hard and fast." 

The urge to utter a single joke from that sentence was strong within Yang, but she resisted the urge with how close Weiss was to her with the knife. Scales flew every direction as Weiss worked, she flinched back whenever one would hit her face, but she pushed through with a disgusted and yet determined look on her face.

The fish's skin and meat didn't look pretty, in some parts it had been ripped from the force of the knife, especially around the area it was stabbed in. 

"Good job for a first timer," Yang slapped Weiss' shoulder. 

"It looks horrid," Weiss scowled as if offended by the fish. 

"It's still edible," Yang noted, "Now we gotta get the innards or else when we cook it the meat is gonna be all bitter and gross." 

Yang showed her where to place her hands, pointed to the vent hole on the fish's underbelly near the tail end. "Good, now just make a shallow cut along the belly- that's it." 

The disgusted face Weiss had having to rip off the guts and gills of the fish was entertaining and Yang had to bite back a snicker. Blake having caught her eighth and most probably her largest catch sat with them. By then Weiss finished gutting another fish. 

"How many did it take her to make it look less like it's been mangled by a bear?" Blake asked. 

"What- How dare- ugh you insufferable buffoons!" Weiss threw the fish into the bucket and took another. Aggressively descaling it, not bothered at all by the scales anymore. 

The other two erupted into giggles. Yang found it hard to not look at the way Blake's eyes lit up as she laughed or the way she'd cover her mouth with her hand as she snorted. 

With Blake gutting the fish had gone faster. Weiss was tasked to remove the scales and cut open the fish, while Blake easily removed the innards and gills with her bare hands. They threw all of it into the water, hoping that they hadn't attracted any predators. Yang helped Blake look for leaves large enough to wrap the fish in. 

"We are not carrying it in the bag," Weiss placed her hand on her hips. 

"How else are we going to bring it back?" Yang pressed. 

Blake sat on a rock as they argued back and forth. By this point she knew Yang agreed but found Weiss' irritation entertaining. She leaned her elbows on her knees, chin on her intertwined fingers. 

"Yang Elizabeth Xiao-Long, stop being so incorrigible!"

That was when her mask broke. "Easy there, Weiss. I can carry most of the fish with the sling." 

“Elizabeth?” Blake asked out loud, both girls paid her no mind.

"Oh no, you are not putting fish  _ near _ your injured arm." 

"I'm not gonna put my arm in the sling, it hurts yeah but I can handle my arm not being in a sling until we get back," 

“Yes, but that means your sling is contaminated with various germs that can expose any open wounds you have,” 

“Look,” Blake stood from her seat, gaining their attention. “We’ll double wrap them in the leaves and put them in the bag. So far, we have no other option and we really need to get back.”

The idea clearly didn’t sit well with Weiss, but didn’t have anything else better to offer as a solution. Yang placed a hand on her shoulder, offering Weiss a comforting smile. 

They went back to their campsite with a bucket and bottles full of water, and several fishes. Yang looks up at the sky, squinting at the sun. By her estimations it was well around two in the afternoon. They haven't eaten anything since breakfast, and Yang was so sure the others could hear her stomach grumbling. If they did, neither commented on it, probably because they were hungry too. 

Yang stood in the direction where Sun and Ruby left. Restlessly pacing back and forth. It was almost night time, the bright blue sky slowly bleeds into orange red. Yang didn't ask how long it would have taken them to get to the bamboo forest, not even knowing how large the island might be. Dragging them back would even take longer with only Sun doing the heavy lifting. 

Weiss was tending to the fire, they had cut down a few branches to place over the fire and placed the fish that they wrapped in banana leaves on top to cook. They weren’t too keen on using sticks to cook the fish and by wrapping them with leaves would keep the skin from burning and the steam would help prevent them from being too dry.

“Any sign of them?” Blake asked, standing beside her.

“No, I’m a little worried,” Yang leaned against a tree, kicking a rock.

“They’ll be fine,” Blake placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly. “I’m sure they’re taking their time like we did by taking breaks in between.” 

“Right, Ruby listens to Weiss no matter what,” Yang sat down, her legs crossed and resting her head on the tree. “And vice versa, but they hardly listen to me.” 

“Maybe if you weren’t such a bumbling brute most of the time, maybe we would,” Weiss said loud enough for them to hear, flipping one of the fishes. 

Blake knew that wasn’t true. Weiss followed Yang’s instructions the whole time they were here, Ruby did as well, with the short time she’d seen them interact. In fact, other than the sisterly way they treated each other, there were moments that Blake saw Yang acting like a mother towards Ruby than an older sister. 

“I just can’t help, but worry,” She sighed

“Reasonable with the situation that we found ourselves in,” Blake smiled at her, crouching down beside Yang, her arms resting along her knees. “Where did you learn all these survival skills?” 

“Most of our family were or are still in the military,” Yang explained, closing her eyes. “Our Uncle, whenever he came back from deployment would always take us out into the woods for camping. He taught us everything we know that’s practical in surviving, even some self defense, although he taught Ruby most of the time with firearms and hunting while my dad taught me hand to hand combat.”

“So that’s the reason you were all prepared when you reached the island,” Blake noted, playing with a leaf on the ground.

  
“When you’ve spent most of your life practically raising your kid sister, you’d end up finding yourself preparing for the worst when in trouble,” Yang gave Blake a sidelong glance. “What about you? Got any siblings?” 

“No,” Blake shook her head. “Apparently I had a twin, but with how much mom had gone to get through pregnancy she didn’t want to risk anything by trying for another.” 

“Bet your dad spoiled you rotten then,” Yang snorts, brushing her bangs from her face. 

“You can say that again,” Blake chuckled, looking up at the darkening sky. “My parents were so overprotective of me.”

“I can relate,” Yang adjusted her sling. “Dad had us follow curfew til I was a junior in high school. Didn’t even let us date til we graduated high school.”

“What? No secret boyfriends?” Blake teased, lightly jabbing Yang’s side with her elbow.

“Nah,” Yang laughed, bumping her shoulder with Blake’s. “Maybe a girlfriend or two though. What about you? Did your parents do the same no dating until college speech?”

“My parents were a bit lenient on that part,” Blake twirls her hair around her finger. “Although I only had one boyfriend throughout my life. I had this thing with my best friend though, but we didn't make anything official.” 

“Did both of you just friendzoned yourselves?” Yang asked

“Nothing like that,” Blake smiled. “More like, we just thought we were better off as friends. Although I think she had it harder than I did.” 

“Fair point,” 

It confused Blake why Yang looked relieved, though she just brushed it off and enjoyed the silence that followed them. 

When the sun finally came down, the sky turning a dark purple, Yang couldn't stand to stay anymore. She grabbed a hatchet and the flashlight, strides long, fast and filled with purpose. Her sister might be in trouble, they might have encountered a bear or a tiger or the goddamn Slenderman. Weiss tried to reason with Yang, that they might have been delayed by the bamboo being heavy or large. She didn't care, she just wanted to see her sister safe. 

"Yang, it's getting dark and we don't know how long that flashlight will last!" Weiss clutches the flashlight to her chest, turning her body away from Yang, out of her reach.

"They haven't gone back, Weiss!" Yang argued, stepping to the side to try and take the flashlight, only to have Weiss jerk herself away from her. "Aren't you worried?!" 

"Of course, I am!" Weiss yelled back, stomping her foot. "I'm not running head on into the dark, injured and without a plan!" 

"I do have a plan!" Yang made a grab for the flashlight, shoving it in Weiss’ face and pulling it back as soon as she tried to grab it. "It's this hatchet and this flashlight" 

“You only have one arm!” Weiss practically screeched. “You can’t hold a flashlight and defend yourself at the same time if anything is out there!”

"I'll find them," Blake offered, stepping in between them.

Both turned towards Blake, her hand stretched out to take the flashlight and hatchet from Yang. It took a moment for Yang to give in, wanting to go herself, but as she took a breath gripping the handle tightly, her shoulders dropped. Yang hands them over to Blake and she wasted no time disappearing into the treeline. 

Even when she knew Blake was there looking for them, Yang couldn't help but worry. Pacing near the fireplace while Weiss sat cross legged in front of the fire, making more of the rope. The fish were long cooked, and were placed neatly along the edge of the branches they’ve placed over the fire to keep them warm. It didn't burn as quickly since they were taken from the trees and were still wet.

The moon was slowly rising in the night sky, and Yang was starting to really worry. The sun had set long ago, Blake left not soon after it had gotten dark. Fear was slowly creeping under her skin, different scenarios popping into her mind and none of them were good. When she couldn’t handle her nerves anymore, she grabbed one of the firewood they’ve placed to the side, wrapping the plant fibers that were yet to be made into rope. 

“Yang, wait-” 

“I’m done fucking waiting, Weiss,” Yang snapped at her, igniting the torch she made. 

By the time Yang was about to set out, there was light coming from within the trees, followed by voices and the sound of rustling. Ruby was the first to step into the range of the light of the fire, flashlight and hatchet in hand. Behind her Blake and Sun were dragging the bamboos, though that detail was something Yang wasn’t entirely interested in. No, what mattered to her was that Ruby was safe.

Yang didn’t care that Weiss was scolding her for squishing her right arm between herself and Ruby, or the consequences and possibility of popping a blister. It didn’t matter, as long as she had her sister in her arms- or rather- arm around her. 

“I told you to not fucking do that to me again,” Yang said sternly, though her voice wavered slightly. “Stop giving me a heart attack already.” 

“I’m sorry, I-” 

“It’s my fault,” Sun cut her off. “I insisted we take a break, because we’ve been walking for a while. Ruby somehow dozed off and I let her and the next moment I had fallen asleep too.” 

“Found them walking back,” Blake explained, handing the hatchet to Yang. “Seemed like they woke up around sunset and were making their way through the dark.” 

“Well, now that we’re all here,” Weiss spoke up, grabbing Ruby by her hoodie and towards the fire. “Dinner’s ready and I bet you’re all hungry.”

They were. So they all sat around the fire, with Ruby and Sun fascinated at the fact that Blake managed to catch this many fish. Humble as she was, she said it wasn’t much and that her mom could have caught more than she did. It didn’t matter, because they had food, more than boiled bananas and nuts and edible plants that they munched on to stave off their hunger. They had meat and that made their night. 

-x-

By morning Blake found Ruby working on the bamboo, cutting them with strength that she never knew a person with heere stature was capable of. Surprisingly, no one had woken up by the noise and the way she brought down the hatchet meant that she only had no problem cutting them with a few hits. 

From afar, she watched as Ruby worked, her tongue sticking out as she used her own hand to measure the bamboo. It occurred to her that Ruby was probably the type of person who would have measured her fingers and the entirety of her hand out of pure boredom or curiosity. 

The bamboo was so thick that Ruby’s fingers couldn't completely wrap around it. Blake watched as Ruby cut a third of the bamboo that was almost the same length as her forearm, she pulled out the knife that Weiss had on her most of the time, carving out the outer layer of where she cut the bamboo. 

“Amazing, isn’t she?” Blake jumped at the sudden voice, whirling around to find Yang smiling sheepishly at her. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” 

“It’s fine,” Blake let out a deep breath, trying to get her heart to calm down. “I did scare you two yesterday morning, so you could say we’re even. Did she really just learn that from watching a youtube video?” 

“Probably,” Yang shrugged. “She learned a lot of stuff just from watching videos and reading about it. That’s just how she is, a sponge for knowledge, a natural born tinker.” 

“Probably the top of her class,” Blake hummed. 

“Graduated Magna Cum Laude at Beacon University,” Yang said with a sense of pride a parent would when boasting about their child. “Weiss is intellectually smart, studies and retains information, memorizes it to a T. But she’s jealous of how natural learning is to Ruby.” 

“What do you mean?” Blake raised one eyebrow at her, one of her ears twitched at the sound of a bird on a nearby tree. 

“Like, Weiss is smart no doubt about it, she’s one of the best residents at Beacon Memorial Hospital that department heads are at her feet to get her into their stations. But she was trained to study, taught how to be smart and used it to her benefit. Ruby, however, just loves information especially when it peaks her interest.” Yang explained 

“You know, I’ve known you longer than Ruby, but somehow I know more about your sister, than about yourself,” Blake points out. “You don’t seem like the type to talk about herself all that much.” 

“Not like you’re one to talk, miss tall, dark and mysterious,” Yang jabbed at Blake with a smirk. Her lilac eyes landed back to Ruby. “She’s my whole world as far as I can remember, I practically revolved around her. I guess I’m just not used to talking about myself when all I could think about before was her.”

“If this was an anime, you’d be referred to as a siscon,” Blake chuckled as Yang wrinkled her nose at the thought. “Oh so you know what a siscon is?” 

“Ah, I’m caught red handed,” Yang snorted, scratching her cheek. “

During their whole conversation Ruby managed to finish one of the water containers. She was struggling to open it once she managed to close the lid that Sun, who had woken up at some point, had to help her open it again. 

Yang walked off, something about starting breakfast and getting more bananas later in the day when she would go out to fish. Blake watched her go, the way she smiled at the half groggy Weiss and coaxing the smaller girl towards the fire and handing her a bottle of water. It struck something inside Blake in a way she didn't understand, made her confused, but she brushed it off and went to Ruby and Sun just as Ruby was instructing him how to wrap the rope around the bamboo in a way that it would have a sling.

-x-

Blake and Sun had gone off to get more water, with Sun having two of the water containers that Ruby made over his shoulders and Blake with the spear in hand and the bucket. They decided with the bamboo, they wouldn't need to worry too much about water as much and that they could use the bucket to store the fish. 

Yang had wanted to accompany them but Weiss insisted she stay and rest, the faster her arm could heal, the sooner Weiss would let her arm free of the sling. Although the bandage wrapped around her arm would remain, Yang didn’t mind as long as she was able to finally have two working hands instead of one.

Ruby was still making the containers, with Weiss making more rope for her to wrap around the bamboo. Ruby was getting the hang out of carving the outer layer of the body and the inner layer of the lid and having less trouble to have them fit without them getting stuck. 

“You’re sulking,” Ruby pointed out, not taking her eyes off of her work. 

Weiss hummed in agreement. 

“Am not,” Yang glared at them both. 

“You definitely are,” Ruby stated as a fact, no room for questions. Like how she would randomly share information when it came to mind. Whether it be relevant to the conversation or not. “I’m telling you, Weiss. We’re gonna have a forest wedding.” 

“Now hold on,” Yang waved her hands in front of her. “What are you guys on about?” 

“How you’d find yourself with a forest wife at some point,” Ruby emphasized her point by pointing the knife at her. 

“Jesus Christ,” Yang pushes the knife to the side. “I taught you better than pointing a knife at someone.” 

Ruby only shrugged her shoulders, not at all bothered by being scolded. Yang wondered if she was too lenient on her as they grew up, or maybe she has finally grown up that a scolding from Yang wasn’t as scary as when she was in high school.

-x-

The next day they decided to look for a better place to stay, although they were hesitant to leave the convenience of the cave that they'd found. Ruby had made a good point that it was better to be closer to shore where they could see if there was a boat in the horizon and if a helicopter came, they wouldn’t be seen due to the thickness of the trees in the forest. 

They’ve split off into two groups; the first being Sun, Ruby and Weiss, they would go towards where they had met Blake and search for a better area. Blake and Yang would go the other way, maybe one of them would find part of the river that would be closer to the shore. Before they went their separate ways Weiss had given Yang a knowing look and Ruby making kissing faces at her as they left. Yang couldn’t help but roll her eyes, retaliating by sticking out her tongue at them. 

“So where were you before heading off to Menagerie?” Yang asked, cutting down branching in her way.

“Was in Mistral for a few years, then moved to Vale with my ex,” Blake adjusted the straps of the water containers on her shoulder. “After I broke it off with him, I decided to go back home.” 

If Weiss were with them she’d insist that Blake should be the one to take point and cut down the branches. It was a relief to Yang that Blake didn’t mind that she took the lead. Being hydrated doesn't seem like a problem now that they had tons of water thanks to Ruby. Although it does take a little bit of brute force to open the lid. Bright side was they didn’t need to worry about any spillage. 

“Man, I wish I could travel like that,” Yang sighed dreamily. “It’d be nice to go around Remnant and all.”

“You haven’t travelled to the other kingdoms?” Blake asked. 

“Well, we did go to Mistral during the holidays when we were younger, visiting grandparents and all that,” A particular swing of the hatchet missed the branch and hit the tree. “Ah- fuck haha.” 

Blake snorted then helped her pull the hatchet free. “So I’m guessing your family is Mistralian then?” 

“Yeah, a bit of mixed cultures,” Yang wiped the sweat from her forehead with her arm. “Dad can’t really count them on the top of his head, but we do like a tradition or two from like three tribes or whatever.” 

“That actually sounds amazing,” They kept on walking, staying under the shade as much as possible. 

“As a kid it was a bit confusing, but we only did it because it’s what Dad knew,” Yang shrugged her shoulders. “Gramps and Grams explained it to me when I was in elementary school but it never stuck. Still do them though, because I was raised like that.” 

“Nothing wrong with keeping up tradition, even if you don’t do it for the same reason they did,” Blake plucks a leaf within her reach, ripping it into pieces. “I like to think that traditions connect us to our ancestors, the meaning and actions may change over the course of centuries, but it’s celebrated with family in mind.” 

Blake was familiar with the practices of Mistralians when it came to the fall, winter and coming spring, she was invited to a few celebrations when she stayed in Mistral. They were also certain parts of a year that they would make a traditional dish and would occasionally find a friend or two drop them off at her home. Blake imagined a younger version of Yang, her long blond hair tied up in a bun and wearing a sleeveless red dress with golden floral patterns and slits on the sides.

“Yeah, I get that,” Yang nodded. “Even if Gramps and Grams isn’t here anymore, we still do the traditions every holiday. Dad even started teaching it to us, but I think I’m the only one who took an interest in it. Ruby though, does it out of obligation but doesn’t protest since it’s fun.” 

They’ve reached a steep slope and the fact that it hadn’t rained since the storm a few days back meant that there was no risk of getting into an accident by slipping onto mud. Although, they should still proceed with caution. 

“What about your family?” Yang asked, starting her ascent to the top. “Do you guys have any family traditions?” 

“Menagerie has shrines for specific gods,” Blake explained, adjusting the roll of one of her sleeves that had gotten loose. “I remember my mom going to one of them every time I had an exam. She would stop by a shrine and pray for me, would even buy charms for me each time too. We have tons of festivals throughout the year, we would always wear traditional clothing and go out as a family.” 

“I bet you look cute in them as a kid,” Yang commented offhandedly. 

Blake didn’t know how to respond to the compliment and just kept on trekking alongside Yang. Her legs were burning with exhaustion, with the trip up the steep slope it was hard to keep conversing. 

When they reached the top, they could only see nothing but a sea of trees and if you squint your eyes hard enough you'd be able to see the ocean. They didn’t see much of how it would benefit their group, especially with how a bit far it was from the shore and the fact that it took time for them to walk up the slope to be worth it. Both descended down, heading back from where they had come from, following the markings that Blake left. 

-x-

The group came back to their current campsite, exhausted from their search and munching on boiled bananas since Blake didn’t do any fishing. None of them liked the thought of any of them going off on their own, no matter how capable they think each other was. Accidents happen and they wanted to ensure that everyone was paired off if they left the campsite. 

Yang informed the group of their futile search for a better area, recounting spots they thought could move to and weighing in the pros and cons of each location. Weiss’ group was equally as unfortunate as they were. They did find part of a river that had tons of open space that would be viable to make camp in, but Ruby also pointed out that if a particularly bad storm could also mean the water rising and most likely sweep up any supplies they have or worse one of them. 

“I say we go back to where you guys found me,” Blake suggested. 

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea, but the trek to the river would take longer than usual,” Weiss held her chin in thought, eyes closed. 

“How long do you think it would be?” Ruby asked. 

“Maybe half an hour, maybe more,” Yang responded, struggling with one of the water containers. She scowled at it before begrudgingly handing it towards Sun with an irritated please. 

“I don’t think that would be such a bad idea,” Sun piped in with a grunt, twisting off the lid and handing it back to Yang. “I lived along the coast of Vacuo as a kid and know how to look for clams or catch some sea birds since those are easier to do than fishing.” 

“We could also use fish guts as bait too,” Ruby nodded, her arms crossed and head tilted to the side as she stared at the fire deep in thought. “At night we can attract some fishes with a torch.” 

“Not to mention, we can also scavenge for seaweed as well,” Blake pointed out. 

“And with our source of food not entirely dependent on the river, clean and fresh water will be our only problem to obtain since it will take time,” Weiss said. “Although, I’m still not entirely sure about water being that far away would be a good idea.”

Blake caught the way Weiss and Yang were subtly watching Sun as he split his banana in half and handed it towards Ruby. Of course, Ruby was oblivious to the way her older sister and best friend were keeping a close eye on her, more preoccupied with asking Sun if he was sure about sharing his portion. 

“Oh!” Ruby perked up, pulling out the whistle that hung from her neck, hidden underneath her hoodie. “We can use the whistles!” 

“What do you mean?” Weiss asked. 

“Okay so we all go to the shore and then we split off, one stays at the beach and the four of us will walk towards the river,” Ruby grabbed a stick from the pile of firewood. “The group that’s on the beach will blow their whistle every minute or so. We can determine the distance based on how far we can hear the whistle. The other four will blow their whistle once we’re so far out that we can barely hear it.” 

Ruby demonstrated this plan by writing A, B, and C onto the dirt. The letters B and C were written far from A. Everyone around Blake moved in closer to see, Yang’s shoulder brushed against hers. Ruby encircled the three letters then drew two arrows beside B and C, meaning that both would be going to opposite directions.. 

“The four of you will split off into pairs in opposite directions and once you think you find a part of the river that’s close to the beach,” Ruby then drew lines in the direction that goes back to A. “You’ll walk back towards the beach, make a landmark with rocks, logs or whatever you can find, then walk back towards the person left on the beach.”

In Blake’s honest opinion, the extra time it would take to get water didn't seem like that much of a problem for her. An extra half hour trek sure sounded like a hassle, but with their food source being expanded, it was a sacrifice that they were willing to make. If it was up to her, she would have just told Weiss that it was worth it and shouldn’t matter as much.

The fact that Ruby took into account Weiss’ worry and thought of a compromise impressed Blake, because she had forgotten about the whistles and even if she did remember them she wouldn’t have thought of this solution. Sure, they were going to expend a bit of effort to find part of the river that would be closer and the plan was actually something she wouldn’t mind doing.

“What do you guys think?” Ruby asked tentatively, pushing her forefingers together. 

“I think it’s a brilliant idea,” Blake’s response made Ruby’s face lit up, smiling brightly at her. 

“You guys don’t have to, it was silly of me to worry about it in the first place,” Weiss said nervously. 

“There’s a reason you’re worrying about it though,” Yang said. Now that she moved away from her side, Blake slightly missed her presence. “We might not get it even if you explain it to us, but I won’t be opposed to doing this if it makes everyone happy.” 

“I agree,” Sun took the stick from Ruby with his tail, drawing a smiley face between the letters. “Catering to everyone’s needs is what we should do. We’re going to spend our time here together whether we like it or not and the fact that none of us here are being selfish jerks and are decent people that are willing to cooperate is the reason we have less problems to deal with.”

-x-

Unfortunately for Yang, Blake was the one to be left behind at the beach. The decision was made by chance. She likes spending time with Blake, but she does understand that she might want to just rest and relax instead of walking. The group’s indecision of who stays had resulted in Ruby holding five sticks in her hand for everyone to take. Whoever got the longest stick stays and the ones with sticks of similar length are to be the pairs. But the idea of Blake staying was actually something that did good in their favor since with her heightened sense of hearing, when they blew their whistle to tell her they were about to split off, she would still hear them despite the sounds of the ocean.

Yang’s partner for that day was Sun. The amount of gratitude that she has for him was one she could put into words. He had saved Ruby from drowning, took care of her when she was unconscious. In a way, Yang feels indebted to him for that.

“Where were you heading to?” Yang asked.

“Just nowhere in particular,” He answered. “Just travelling, wherever I go was just random and whatever I felt like doing.”

“Jeez, you guys get to go and travel,” Yang rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m jealous.”

“You don’t travel a lot?” Sun 

“I went to other cities within Vale,” Yan said, ducking under a branch that she couldn’t cut down. “Had to stay near home and all because of priorities.”

“I get that,” Sun’s tail flicked back and forth as they walked, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “Couldn’t leave Vacuo til I knew my cousin’s would be well taken care of.” 

Yang didn’t push for any details on the matter, not really sure if Sun was comfortable with it and she didn’t want to seem too nosy about it either. It doesn’t mean that she wasn’t curious about it. But she knew how she wouldn’t want to have anyone she didn’t know well to ask her about her personal life.

As they walked in silence, Sun paused in his tracks looking around. 

“You hear something?” Yang asked. 

“Yeah, my hearing isn't as good as Blake’s but I think I hear the river,” Sun turned to look at her. “Although it’s really faint.” 

They actually found part of the river that is close to the beach, although it is still out of range of the sounds of a whistle no matter how loud

-x-

Everyone had decided that after a week of staying in the island, securing a permanent campsite, food stored that would last them for more or less a day or two. It was time that they started focusing on one of their concerns that has been in the back burner since there were pressing matters. 

"Oh my god," Weiss moaned, leaning against a rock. Her whole body submerged in the river except for her head. Her hair free of its off center high ponytail, white hair spilled over her shoulder and floating on the water around her. "A bath, finally a bath." 

"We've been so busy we didn't think we needed this," Yang said beside her. The water only reached up to her chest, her right arm elevated and dry over a rock. "Though I wish I could take a swim." 

"And have you got your wounds wet?" Weiss scoffed. "I share the sentiment, but it'll take longer for the open wounds to get better and worse will get infected if it gets wet. So sorry, you're stuck half submerged." 

"Besides," Ruby said from above them, filling one of the bamboo containers with water and pouring it carefully over Yang. "I can wash your hair for you." 

"I hope it won't get ruined," Yang grumbled, "It takes a lot of effort to take care of it." 

"You're fine," Blake said, swimming towards them. It took immense will power for Yang to avert her eyes from Blake's  _ assets _ . 

All four girls had stripped all the way down to their underwear. Weiss, unsurprisingly wore a simple matching white bra and panties. Ruby wore black boy shorts and a red sports bra with black outlines. Yang was a bit of both, wearing a matching orange bra and boy shorts. They were all girls, Yang has seen a lot of girls in their underwear throughout her life. But dear god, Blake was every bit of a sexy woman Yang ever dreamed of. She wore a matching black and purple bra and panties. It was simple, but the way that it made Blake looked elegant had taken every bit of control Yang had to not to ogle. 

"God, my hair is so oily," Ruby said, pouring water over herself. "It feels gross."

"We can go over where most of the ship washed up, maybe there are suitcases there with shampoos and soap we could use." Weiss suggested.

"Wouldn't be a bad idea," Yang shrugged, "Some people also bring a new pack of toothbrushes and toothpaste when going on vacations so maybe we can find one in a waterproof toiletries bag." 

"That's a good point," Blake flipped her hair over her shoulder, showing her well defined collar bone. "My mom does it and has them in a zip locked bag in case the toothpaste would burst." 

Unconsciously, Yang's eyes went lower and lowe- 

Water was harshly dumped onto her head that left her spluttering. Ruby cackled above her and Weiss giggling behind her hand to the side, who moved away to avoid being in the splash zone. 

"Why you damn little gremlin" Yang growled playfully as she grabbed Ruby by her forearm. 

"Yang wai-," Ruby wasn't able to finish what she was about to say. Even when her right arm was out of commission, it didn't mean that she was weak. Yang had been going to the gym for years and one thing she loved was arm day. Unlike most, her left was equally as strong as her right. With the strength that can rival their dad, Ruby was thrown into the river with a terrified shriek. 

Yang would've laughed if it wasn't for the fact of how scared Ruby actually sounded. Her heart leaped into her throat when she saw her little sister struggle to get her head over the water. Ruby knew how to swim, their Uncle Qrow made sure of that once they were old enough. In fact, Ruby was a faster swimmer than Yang could ever hope to be and to see her struggling to keep afloat horrified Yang at the prospect that she could drown. 

Just as she was about to make her way over and help Ruby, Weiss pulled her back. 

"Yang, your arm!" She sounded just as scared as Yang felt. Blake, thankfully, realized what was wrong the moment Ruby hit the water. It was then Yang realized that Ruby also had her stitches that shouldn’t get wet either.

At first Ruby managed to keep herself afloat, but the longer she was in the deeper waters of the river, without her feet touching anything underneath, her panic grew and was now flailing and sputtering in the water. 

"I got you," Yang heard Blake say to Ruby with a grunt. "Calm down, I got you." 

It didn't work, Blake struggled to help a flailing Ruby to the river bed. She was breathing heavily, borderline hyperventilating, trembling with tears streamed down her face. 

Yang got out, running towards the pair. She helped pull Ruby out of the river, engulfing her in a hug. Ruby clung to her that reminded her of when they were kids. Whenever she was scared, or sad she'd clung to Yang like her life depended on it. The sound of her sister sobbing, all because of her, broke her heart. Guilt hammering away at her, that it was almost painful that her eyes were brimming with tears. 

"I'm sorry," Yang said as Ruby clung to her. "God, I'm so sorry." 

When Ruby showed no sign of calming down, sobbing and gasping against her shoulder. Yang started humming, a familiar tune that hopefully would help. It was one their mother would sing when they had nightmares, Yang always wondered if Ruby could remember those nights and maybe not in great detail, but it did help when their mother was gone. 

_ "Hush your cries..." _

By the time she had sung the bridge of the song, Ruby had calmed down in her arms. Face buried in the crook of her neck, hiccuping occasionally as they rocked gently from side to side. Yang would mumble apologies every now and then, kissing her the side of her head.

"Ruby..." Yang whispered after a while, willing herself to keep the tears from falling. "God, I had no idea. Why didn't you tell me?" 

"I-I-" She stuttered, sniffling. "I di-idn't want you to wo-wo-worry." 

"I should've known," Yang's voice cracked at the last word. "I'm the worst, I should have known." 

She should've. The way Ruby stayed by the shallow waters, staying by the side of the river and using the container to pour water over herself instead of swimming away in the river. Yang should have noticed how out of character that was of her. She should've known the night of the storm had scarred Ruby more than she let on. She loves to swim. Would jump in first whenever they would go to the lake in the woods of Patch. 

Blake and Weiss sat a little ways away from the two sisters, close enough if they needed anything but far enough away that they wouldn't hear what was said between them. 

"Is Ruby going to be okay?" Blake asked. It didn't seem like Yang would be the type to forget if her sister doesn't know how to swim. In fact, she assumed they both knew how to swim knowing that their Uncle had taught them how to survive in the wilderness. 

"Maybe," Weiss sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I've never seen Ruby like that before." 

“What happened?" Blake watched as Yang shifted Ruby on her lap. 

"In my professional opinion," Weiss' brows scrunched up together in worry. "Ruby just had a panic attack." 

"Has this happened before?" 

"No," 

The sounds of sobbing had finally slowed down, a few hiccups and sniffles here and there were left. At some point Weiss had stood and made her way towards the two sisters. She said something to Yang that Blake couldn't hear and she could see the conflict in lilac eyes. Reluctantly, Yang had let go of Ruby, letting Weiss take her under a shade of a tree and far away from the water. 

Blake decided to sit down beside Yang to keep her company. 

"How are you?" Blake placed a hand on her shoulder tentatively. 

"Like shit, a horrible sister," Yang's voice was so low that if it wasn't for Blake's heritage she wouldn't have heard it. "God, if Summer could see me now, she'd be disappointed in me." 

"Summer?" Blake asked. 

"Our mom," Yang sighed deeply. "Or rather, Ruby's mom. Summer's my stepmom." 

"It's okay," 

"It isn’t okay!” Yang hissed, fists clenched. “I knew about the nightmares! She wasn’t going into the water like you and Weiss were! I should have known!” 

“Yang,” Blake said firmly, her voice still soft and comforting. “You’re human, you can make mistakes. I’m not saying you shouldn’t feel bad about it, but you shouldn’t beat yourself up about it either.”

“I made a promise,” Yang gritted her teeth. “I was supposed to take care of her.” 

“And you are,” Blake said, moving in close and unfurling Yang’s hand and holding it. “To the best of your abilities. You may not feel like it is enough, but I’ve seen how you’ve taken care of Ruby. I can see how deeply you care about her and with the way she clung to you the moment I brought her back safely, means she’s not mad at you for what happened.”

For a while Blake thought her words fell upon deaf ears and honestly she wouldn’t blame her. Blake knew how sometimes our minds are against us no matter how much people say otherwise. Blake knew a thing or two about blaming one’s self, when your thoughts override any sense of logic and you’re just stuck in a pool of self hatred.

“Thank you,” Yang whispered.

“No problem,” Blake said just as quietly. “I know what it feels like to blame yourself. It hurts and it won’t help.” 

-x-

With Sun now there with them to help with cutting down the trees, they had no problem building their new shelters. Ruby suggested a dome style like shelter, with a small fire pit in the middle for light and warmth for the night. It took almost three days to build, Blake and Sun working tirelessly to cut down the necessary logs needed to make it, with Yang taking over whenever one needed to take a rest. Weiss and Ruby were tasked with making the ropes needed to keep them put together. 

It was large enough to house all five of them and with Ruby’s guidance they even had made three platforms along the walls inside to elevate them from the cold ground. Using shrubbery and the like as bedding. The sleeping arrangement was that Yang and Ruby shared one bed, Weiss and Blake shared the other and Sun used the remaining one. To keep himself warm he used banana leaves as a blanket.

Sadly for them, they couldn’t get much food from the shore. Clams were not as abundant as they had thought and crabs were too small for them to eat. They have tried fishing and caught one or two, using the innards of the fishes they caught from the river as bait. 

Although, there were a couple of coconut trees that they took advantage of. Sun had volunteered to climb them. He had made indents on the tree so that he would have a foothold as he climbed. Weiss insisted that Sun used the orange rope to tie around the tree and himself, not at all looking forward to another one of them to have a concussion. The only downside was that Ruby couldn’t eat them with her being allergic and all. 

They’ve found a bright pink blanket at some point and instead of using it as a blanket for one of them, they’ve all decided to hang it up. The color would surely get the attention of anyone nearby trying to look for them.

Once they’ve all gotten settled, with their new shelter, one that she has been excited for the past two weeks. It was hard not to notice and if any of them didn’t, then they were pretty oblivious in Blake’s opinion. 

“Freaking finally,” Yang stretched her right arm, clenching and unclenching her fist. “God, I can finally use two hands.” 

“Keep in mind you are not  _ completely _ healed,” Weiss chided, wagging her finger at Yang. “You still need to drink more water than the rest of us and don’t do anything too strenuous with it.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Yang said offhandedly, half listening “Don’t over do it and all that.” 

Weiss rolled her eyes, letting out a huff as she folded up cloth they used as a sling and putting it away in the lifeboat that they dragged towards their shelter and using it for storage, with a large amount of leaves to keep it as dry as they possibly could keep it. 

Ruby poked at the scabs of the popped blisters, causing Yang to jerk back and frown at her. She only chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “Sorry, couldn’t help it,” 

“What are you gonna do with those,” Yang said, jutting her chin at the pile of bamboo her sister requested Sun and Blake to get. 

It was smaller and thinner than the ones she used to make their water containers. 

“Oh,” Ruby skipped her way towards them, picking up one in her hand. “I was thinking, maybe I can make a basket out of these? It’d be easier to scavenge for food and store them.” 

“That’s a great idea and all,” Yang said, scratching her head. “Do you know how though?” 

“Uh…” Ruby paused, looking down at the bamboo pile. “I know bamboo softens and bends when you heat them up but…” 

“Well it doesn't hurt to try?” Yang slapped Ruby’s back, squeezing her shoulder. “Failing just means making our way to success, right?”

“Right!” Ruby beamed.

The encouragement had taken away the rest of Ruby’s hesitation and began cutting up the bamboo into thin strips. For a moment Yang watched as she worked, helping her once in a while to hold the bamboo still as she cut them with the hatchet. 

“Hey, Yang,” Blake called from the hut. “I want to try something at the river, do you mind accompanying me?” 

“Nah, I don’t mind at all,” Yang wiped the side of her face with the collar of her shirt. 

As she made her way towards Blake, she heard Ruby hum to herself which sounded suspiciously of a bride’s entrance music. Yang shot Ruby a glare and flipped her off, who was not affected by it at all and kept on humming, pretending to focus entirely on her project. The only thing that Yang could do was shake her head with a sigh, wondering where did her precious little sister had gone and how she had ended up to be such a little shit was beyond Yang. 

“What’cha wanna do?” Yang asked. 

“I just remembered another way of catching fish,” Blake said, her hands full of sticks. “My mom loved to catch things with spears or use her bare hands. My dad, however, was the type to lay out traps and just enjoy the sun while he waited.” 

“So, you’re gonna make one with those sticks?” Yang pointed at the aforementioned items in her arms. 

“Yes,” Blake nodded, as she handed half of the pile to Yang. “I was thinking of recreating it and if I’m successful we can spend less time fishing.” 

She wasn’t going to lie, Yang absolutely loved watching Blake spearfishing in the river. It was just fascinating to watch, like how patient she was to stand still, raising the spear above her head. Staying still for a minute or two waiting for a fish, her arms would be tired. Patience and endurance, it was something that Yang couldn’t help but commend Blake’s efforts. Not to mention the triumphant smile she would have once she has caught a particularly large fish. 

“So, no more spearfishing?” 

“You look disappointed,” Blake noted with a smirk. “Saw something you like?” 

“No! Uh-I mean… wait fuck-” Yang slapped her face, which burned a bright red that highlighted the freckles splattered across her face. “Oh god, you’re horrible.” 

“Not sure what you’re talking about,” Blake laughed softly, casting a mischievous glance at her. “I was merely asking a question.” 

It was at that moment, that Yang realized. She was utterly smitten by this woman and hates the fact that if Ruby caught wind of this, the brat wouldn’t shut up about it.

“So what was your job before ending up here?” Yang asked, “You wouldn’t be in a family of fishermen and that you are going to take over the business, are you?” 

“No,” Blake laughed. “My family just loves the outdoors like yours does and fishing is one of the many things we spend together as a family. Even if my dad does it by the river bed and carves wood.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Yang pushed a branch out of the way, letting Blake pass through first. “We would have a bit more trouble catching fish if you weren’t here.” 

“I’m sure you would have been fine,” Blake said, her cheeks turning a light pink. “You three seem more competent in survival though than I am.”

-x-

The five of them have gotten into a routine of sorts, with Weiss and Ruby handling most of the job of crafting materials for them to use and scavenging fruits to eat, occasionally Blake would join them on making baskets and ropes. She had gained an interest in learning and wanted to practice in case she’s left stranded in the wilderness yet again. It gave the three of them something to bond over and time to talk to each other. 

Ruby had a genuine curiosity about menagerie, and faunus culture in its entirety. Blake was all too happy to answer most of her inquiries and how the political system between faunus works. Weiss, showed no interest, or tried to, but Blake knew she was listening just as intently as Ruby was and was probably taking mental notes of whatever info Blake gave them. 

The traps that Blake had set up at the river were working perfectly, giving them a steady source of fish without it being too time consuming. Sun had volunteered to be the one to harvest them and bring them back to their shelter with the use of a basket that Ruby weaved, it was one of the first successful ones she had made. Sometimes one of the girls would accompany him, maybe two to refill their water supply. Most times however, Ruby went with him to the river. 

Yang, of course, was very worried about Ruby going to the river as often as she did. She was reminded by Weiss that hovering over her wouldn’t be a great idea. Yang knew that, but the guilt and fear that gripped her heart wouldn’t let go and she couldn’t help but worry. 

“She’s fine,” 

“I know,” Yang exhaled deeply, looking up at the sky with a hand over her eyes to shield from the sun’s rays. “I know.” 

“You worry too much,” Weiss said. 

“Says you,” Yang scoffed. It brought a smile to their faces. 

There wasn’t much left to do for them. They had enough food to not worry about starving, and enough water containers to last them a few days until they needed to refill it. Weiss was still worrying about how out of the five of them, two were constipated. It’s not much of an issue for now, but Weiss was trying to think of searching further into the forest for more fruits that could help alleviate the situation before it becomes a problem for them. 

But for now, they both decided to take a walk along the shore after lunch.

“I just don’t get why Ruby keeps going to the river when she can barely get waist deep into the water,” Yang sighed, frows burrowed. 

“Exposure therapy, I would assume,” Weiss shrugged, clearly not convinced with her own answer. “Whatever she’s doing we just have to trust in her...and also Sun to keep her in check.” 

“I guess so,” Yang scratched her cheek in thought. “They’ve gotten closer lately, maybe she’s just happy she made a new friend.” 

  
“That and maybe sometimes, we confide in people we barely know because there’s less bias to worry about,” Weiss told her. “And we get a different perspective on the situation. If it helps, I don’t see why we should intervene.” 

“I hate it when you’re right,” Yang grumbled then smiled. “I like your scar though.” 

Weiss reached up to her left eye, fingers ghosting over the scab. It wasn’t a scar yet, it was still healing. But everyone knew that it was going to be something she will live with, she can deal with the scar. She was just thankful that she didn’t lose an eye.

-x-

Their walk took them hours, just talking and enjoying the scenery around them. Weiss expressed her concerns about Blake and Ruby’s bowel problems, and the possibility of venturing deeper into the forest for more fruits or vegetables that could help alleviate the problem. 

As much as it scared Yang to go too far, Weiss had a point that they shouldn’t put it off until it became a bigger problem than it already is for them. It was best to be discussed with the others so they could coordinate better and what they could prepare to do if something were to happen. 

“I think you’re well enough to join the expedition with Sun,” Weiss said. “If anything were to happen, Blake and Ruby will be ready to go search for you two.” 

“Why me and Sun though?” Yang asked. 

“What do you mean?” Weiss smirked, “What? Do you want someone else to go with you? Maybe Blake?” 

“T-That’s not what I meant!” Yang yelled, her cheeks shining brightly. “I was just aski- what’s that?” 

Weiss stopped in her tracks, looking at the direction where Yang was pointing at. Squinting, against the harsh sunlight, the young doctor could see at a distance, a boat floating nearby. At a closer look, they could make out that it was the same lifeboats that were provided by the cruise ship. 

It was Yang who had moved first, dashing towards the boat. Weiss had a hard time catching up to her, with how her feet sunk into the hot sand and not having enough footing to go any faster. Yang wasn’t bothered by it at all and kept running. 

By the time Weiss managed to catch up to her friend, Yang was already diving into the water towards the boat. The current was slightly strong, but it wasn’t enough that it would make Yang struggle too much in her pursuit in getting near the lifeboat. 

The moment she was within reach, Yang had hauled herself up on the edge of the boat, in search of any survivors or supplies they could use. What she found had stopped her breath and once the smell hit her she was gagging, heaving to the side but nothing came out. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, whether it was her heaving, the smell or what she found. She didn’t know. 

Once Yang had gotten her bearings, she grabbed the bright orange rope that lay on the floor of the boat, tying it at the end of the boat. It took her a while, but she managed to pull it to shore. 

“Yang, what’s wrong?” Weiss knelt down beside her friend, patting her back as she coughed, breathing heavily. 

“God, the smell,” Yang wheezes. “It hasn’t been lo-long, but with the heat I-” 

From where she sat, she could smell it too. Weiss sat up straighter, looking in the boat to see two female bodies lying down next to each other, one had dark hair and skin while the other had a pale complexion and blonde hair, faces pale. Weiss didn’t need to check their vitals to know that they are dead, god knows how long they have been out in the waters, but the stench was unbearable and with the blisters on their bodies, it was hard to tell which ones are from dehydration and sickness or from their bodies starting to decompose. At a glance, Weiss could see who had died first based on the condition of their bodies.

The woman with the dark complexion has her side bandaged, half of her body covered in burns. To Weiss, it was a miracle that she survived as long as she did. Being out there in the ocean, with little to no food and water and injured. It was either luck or their immense determination to survive had pushed them this far.

The blonde one’s head moved slightly, causing Weiss to pause in her tracks. Slowly, she opened her eyes, blinking against the harsh sunlight. She groaned, wincing the moment their mouth moved. After she had gotten her bearings she looked at Weiss, squinting.

“Hello?” Weiss called out, kneeling beside her. “Can you hear me?”

She croaked, struggling to voice her thoughts. She weakly raised one hand, trembling in its efforts. 

“He-He-” She coughed weakly, her voice nothing but a rasp. 

“Hold on,” Weiss instructed, hands immediately reaching for her water container. 

She helped the woman up slightly, letting her rest against her thighs as Weiss pressed the bamboo to her lips. The woman greedily drank the water, eyes welling up with tears and clenched tight. 

“Please-” She tried again, her voice trembled. “Help him.” 

The woman struggled to breathe, exhaustion washing over her in waves as she struggled to keep her eyes open. 

“Please,” She said one last time before going limp. 

Weiss pressed her fingers against her throat below her jaw, searching for any sign of a heartbeat. It took a while, but it was faint, too faint that she doubts she could even do anything to help the woman. She then notices the tarp at the end of the boat, placed specifically to hide something from view or more specifically, from the glaring heat.

She had to move fast, just like the body they had found before, the smell was invading her nose at full speed and that the longer she stayed the harder it was to breathe. Weiss peered into the tarp and almost gasped, stopping herself lest she inhaled more of the horrid smell permeating around the boat. 

Inside was a small boy, and from the looks of it, he was probably two years old, maybe younger. He had dark skin and black hair, much like one of the women that lay dead in the boat. The child was tucked under the tarp to protect him from the sun and other elements. He only wore overalls and socks, but no shirt, most likely to keep him from getting too hot under the tarp.

The child opens his eyes, showing a beautiful bright brown color. He looked up at her curiously before letting out a loud yawn and stretching his body. The boy looked around, with Weiss blocking the sight of the women behind her, with nothing familiar in sight, his face scrunched up as if he was about to cry. 

Weiss tried to comfort the child, eyes searching for anything to calm him down. She saw in the corner of her eye a small plastic airplane and tried to get the boy’s attention by waving it in front of his face. 

“It’s okay, you’re okay, look,” Weiss tried to say soothingly, but it came out as panicky “It’s an airplane, see?” 

She made a ‘whoosh’ sound as she played with the toy, trying to get him to engage her with playing, but it was in vain as he started to wail in earnest, tears streaming down his cheeks in heavy waves. 

“Mama!” He cried, moving to stand, but Weiss kept him where he was. 

It broke her heart, the sound of something so small, so young, crying and calling out for his mother. 

“No!” He screeched, trying to swat her hands away. “No! Mama! I want mama!” 

The sounds of a branch snapping and leaves rustling brought Weiss’ attention back to Yang. Who had taken down some of the branches of a palm tree and made her way towards the boat, dragging three of them behind her. The toddler continues to cry, pounding his fists against Weiss’ chest where she tried to keep him from seeing what was behind her. Yang throws the leaves over the bodies, making sure that not even the limbs are within view. She then turned to Weiss. 

“Hand him over to me,” She said, lips in a tight line. 

Weiss does as she said, handing the wailing child, who wriggled in her hands and calling for his mother. 

“Mama! Mama!” He screamed with all his might. 

“Hey there, fella,” Yang said soothingly, undeterred by the fist that hit her face. “Calm down, hush now.” 

Yang brought the child towards the treeline and under the shade, free from the blazing sun and away from the dreadful smells from the boat. She bounced him in his arms, comforting him as much as she could. He pulled at her hair, screaming at her face, hitting her wherever he could reach. Yang stayed patient throughout the entire ordeal, telling him no softly but firm, whenever he punched or pulled her hair, and looked at him with a smile that never reached her eyes. The child kept crying, for how long, Weiss didn’t know. All she knew was at some point, he had expended most of his energy crying and had laid his head against Yang’s shoulder, hands gripped tightly on her shirt and sniffling, a hiccup or two would pop up every so often.

“Mama,” He called out tiredly. 

“I know. I know,” Yang whispered, holding him close and rocking him softly. “It’s gonna be alright, kiddo. It’s going to be okay.” 

Once he had gone to sleep, sniffling against Yang’s shoulder, cheeks stained with tears, they set off back to their shelter towards the others after they had searched the boat for anything they could scavenge. 

“We have to bury them,” Weiss stated. 

“I know,” Yang said, her voice strained. 

Weiss wanted to ask Yang a question, but she didn’t know what question to ask. Too many things were on her mind and she didn’t know how to approach her friend about them. The look on Yang’s face was something she had never seen. It was like she had done this before.

-x-

“His name is Adrian,” Yang said, handing a brown leather wallet to Ruby. 

Inside there was a polaroid photo of the child with the two women they found in the boat. At the bottom was the date it was taken, they were at a park, adults and children were visible in the photo along with tables of food, balloons and streamers. Behind the photo, written in bold ‘Adrian’s first birthday’. 

The photo was passed around the group, each one inspecting the family in the photo closely. Ruby was the one that held onto the photo longer, holding it tightly in her hands. Weiss went through the remaining contents of the wallet, which was a few hundred lien, three credit cards and a driver’s license. The owner was the blonde woman named Sapphron Cotta-Arc. 

“His birthday…” Ruby said quietly.

“In ten days,” Yang finished for her, tucking him in with a small blanket they had found in a bag in the boat. “He’s gonna be two soon.”

“The bodies?” Blake asked, swallowing thickly. 

“Still in the boat, we tied it to a tree so the tide wouldn't take it away,” Weiss explained. “Three of us will go there tomorrow morning to bury them properly. Two will remain here and look after Adrian.”

“I’ll go,” Yang volunteered. 

“Me too,” Sun ran his hand through Adrian’s hair softly. 

“Me third,” Ruby said. 

“No,” Yang shook her head. “You’re staying here.” 

“What?” Ruby frowned, “Why?” 

“You’re good with kids, I think it would be best if you stayed here to look after Adrian,” 

“Alright…” Ruby said hesitantly. 

There was a tense moment after that exchange between the sisters, the atmosphere in the group becoming heavy even up til dinner. They all sat around the fire, with Yang sitting by Adrian’s side. Weiss and Blake looking over their dinner of fish and boiled bananas. Sun and Ruby sat beside each other, talking in hushed voices. Sometimes, Blake would notice the way silver eyes would glance at Yang. It wasn’t particularly malicious or filled with anything, in fact, it was as if Ruby was watching Yang warily. 

Blake left the rest of the cooking to Weiss and went to sit beside Yang. 

“Are you alright?” She asked softly. 

“I’m fine,” Yang nodded, brushing Adrian’s bangs aside. “Just sucks is all, for this little fella.” 

“He is quite young to lose his parents,” 

“Yeah,” For a brief moment, her gaze shifted towards Ruby. “Too young.” 

Their plans changed when Adrian woke up just after they had all eaten. Just like earlier, he called for his mothers, but did not cry as much as he did before, clearly exhausted. Weiss tried to comfort him, but he squirmed too much in her hold that could risk dropping him. Ruby tried to help, speaking softly to the small boy with a smile. 

He was able to stay still enough for Ruby to have a good hold on him, but he tried to push her away weakly, whimpering . Ruby made silly faces at him, although the effort seemed to be in vain as Adrian didn’t seem entertained by them at all. 

He looked around, getting more distressed the more he saw nothing familiar. His eyes landed on Yang, who stood nearby in case anything would happen. Adrian sniffed, lower lip trembling, he leaned towards her and held out his hands. He let out a small whine, as the first round of tears fell down his cheeks.

“I think he wants you,” Ruby grunted, readjusting her hold on him.

“Come here, kiddo,” Yang sighed, taking him in her arms. Adrian clung close to Yang, wrapping his arms around her neck and burying his face in her shoulder. “I got you.”

-x-

In the morning, their plans have changed with Adrian not willing to leave Yang’s side. Before they had gone to bed, the plan was for him to sleep beside Sun. The idea was not something that he liked and cried until Yang decided that he should sleep with her and Ruby would move to Sun’s cot. 

When Yang was about to leave with Sun and Blake, Adrian had expressed his displeasure of the action with a loud cry. It was then decided that she was going to stay with Ruby with Adrian. 

“Why did you want me to stay?”

“Are you saying you’d be able to handle what you were going to see?” Yang said.

“Yes,” The look given her way made her resolve crumble. “Maybe.”

“I’m not saying you need to be coddled,” Yang said, adjusting her hold on Adrian who was preoccupied with playing with his toy airplane. “If it were any other dead body, things would have been different. But this isn’t just any dead body, not for Adrian, not for you and especially not for me.”

“Was it really that bad?” Ruby asked, pouting as she crossed her arms. 

“No,” She shook her head. “It’s what you expect a dead body to look like when out that long in the sun. It was more of the fact of what they are to someone and who they might remind us of.” 

“Sucks,” Ruby groaned, falling back onto the sand. 

“Yeah,” Yang said, wiping Adrian’s hand free of sand. 

“Shucks,” Adrian copied. 

“Sure does, Adrian,” Ruby smiled.

The day went on with just the three of them, whenever Yang tried to hand off Adrian to Ruby he would always fuss and be on the verge of tears. He didn’t want to stray away from the blonde even for a second. 

At some point, Adrian's face went red while in Yang’s arms, face scrunched up and only when Yang felt something warm and soft against her forearm was when she knew that he had taken a shit. It didn’t smell as bad as she thought it would have, not to a point to gag about. In fact, Ruby had worse smelling poop when she was a baby, but it didn’t mean it was unpleasant. 

Adrian tugs at her shirt, a look of disgust on his face. “Smell bad.” 

“Yeah, little man,” Yang chuckled. “It is icky, isn’t it? Let’s get you cleaned up, yeah?” 

It took a while for both sisters to find something suitable to wipe down most of the fecal matter off of Adrian. They decided that a leaf would be alright, but they also had to look for one that wouldn’t irritate his skin. They were taking a gamble with the softest leaf they could find and both prayed that it would not be something that would give them trouble in the future. 

They’ve wrapped him up with the bright pink blanket and made their way towards the river. At their home Ruby had placed rocks by the fire pit that said “poop” and “river” to notify the others of where they went. 

Ruby held the soiled overalls, wrapped up in leaves as they made their way towards the river. 

“I remember the day you were born,” Yang said out of nowhere. “You looked so weird, like a tiny alien.” 

It was a memory that she could still remember as clear as day, despite how young she was at the time. The day that her little sister was born, it was the greatest day of Yang’s life. She remembered how her dad and Summer told her the news, how hesitant and afraid she was to have a little sibling. Yang had classmates who would complain about their new siblings and how their parents didn’t have time for them because of that. 

When she saw her alien of a sister, all wrinkly and ugly as all newborns tend to be. Her crying was painful to Yang at first, the way the sound pierced her eardrums and how irritated she was at how much she cried. 

Summer, however, with her messy dark brown hair in a loose bun, the large bags under her eyes, held Ruby close to her, tears welling up before falling down her cheeks. 

“My beautiful Rose, she said” Yang locked her gaze with Ruby. “You were such an ugly thing, but mom saw you as what you were. Her daughter.” 

“I don’t remember the day I was born,” Ruby giggled. 

“Of course, you don’t,” Yang shook her head, amused. “I remember mom wanted me to hold you. But I was too scared, because I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Where did that Yang go?” Ruby said, earning her a light punch to her shoulder. They both laughed. “I’m serious, I have too many bruises from you.” 

“Only cuz you deserve it, you little gremlin,” Yang ruffled Ruby’s hair. 

At that she paused, a thoughtful look crossed her face. She looked up at how the light shone through the gaps between the trees, leaves rustling against the wind. It reminded Yang a little back home, she was pretty sure the others were getting homesick, wanting to go back to civilization. For her and Ruby though, living in the wilderness was second nature for them. 

“After that I was enamored by you,” Yang lips twitched as Adrian pulled particularly hard at her hair. She took his hand carefully away from her hair, shaking her head no. “I was by mom’s side, watching her take care of you. Feed you, bathe you, change your diapers, how to make you fall asleep. At some point, mom decided to teach me these things.”

By watching Summer, that was how Yang realized why her classmates felt as though their parents never had time for them. Taking care of a baby demanded so much of their time, so much of their effort. Even with two adults working together, a baby needs a lot of attention.

It hurt for a while, that much Yang understood. Sometimes they forget small details, when spending time with her, they would drop what they were doing to accommodate Ruby whenever she cried. It was when Yang started following Summer around when she carried Ruby that she knew that she wasn’t being replaced or forgotten. 

Even when she saw how tired they were after taking care of Ruby, they still tried to spend time with her. Like how her dad would read her bedtime stories before bed, but would end up dozing off to sleep halfway through. He was so tired but still tried to make time for her. Summer always says sorry whenever she has to pause in helping her do her homework to go take care of a crying infant. She tried to juggle things, believing that she could give both children her full attention.

Yang could see their tired state, how drained they were from taking care of two people. She could also see how happy they were, especially when they saw her starting to help in raising Ruby. Like how she was sometimes that first to be at Ruby’s side at the sound of her crying.

“Then she died when you were a few weeks older than Adrian,” Yang swallowed, taking a deep breath. “Dad drowned himself in work and later when we were a little older, found comfort in alcohol. Suddenly, I just magically knew how to take care of you.” 

“I remembered that sadly,” Ruby grumbled bitterly.

Yang gave her a sidelong glance. She had to admit that was not something children their age should have experience, but they forgave him once he had shapen himself up. He stopped drinking and focused more on them, compensating for the couple of years of neglecting his fatherly duties. They loved him, even when he barely took care of them at some point and they could see he loved them as well. So, it was hard for them to hold a grudge on him like that. 

“Do you know why mom named you Ruby?” Yang asked and Ruby shook her head. “It means red precious gemstone, but if you were going to be a boy; you would’ve been named Reuben.” 

“Why Reuben?” She asked. 

“It was dad’s idea, because he found the definition very meaningful,” Yang then holds Adrian under his armpits, like how the baboon from Lion King held the lion cub on the large rock, exaggerating the imitation of their dad’s voice. “Behold, a son!” 

Ruby couldn’t help but snort at that before bursting into giggles with Yang following suit. Adrian, however, was not amused by the way he was held and had an annoyed look on his face.

“Down!” He whined.

-x-

It has been three days since they have found Adrian. Adrian only seemed to interact with Sun and Yang the most, while with the others he tended to ignore them or would be upset when it wasn’t the two blondes. 

Blake theorized that it was probably because of how one of his mothers was blonde. Based on what the child already knows, he has a mother with blonde hair and blue eyes and even with Yang’s purple ones, she looked similar enough for Adrian. His small mind trying to find anything familiar to comfort him. Whatever info Adrian already had within his schema about his mother was assimilated by the new information he’s getting from his experience in the island with them. It would then mean his mind modified what he knew, thinking that his mother has purple eyes. Sapphron might also have a brother with the same traits as her and that was why Adrian was also okay being with Sun. 

The toddler was currently mesmerized by the yellow tail over his head. His small hands reached up and tried to catch it, but Sun would keep it out of reach whenever he got too close. One of the only ways for Yang to be able to get a break from Adrian was for Sun to take over.

Adrian follows the tail with amazement, he steps into Sun’s lap, hand reaching for the tail swishing about from side to side. Sun kept a hand on him as he tried to climb up on his shoulder. 

A loud sigh from beside her had pulled her away from her thoughts. Weiss sat with her legs tucked under her, watching as Sun played with Adrian. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Blake asked. 

“I want to spend time with Adrian as well,” Weiss grumbled with a look of resignation. “But, he won’t even acknowledge us.” 

“He’ll warm up to us at some point,” Blake said, leaning back on her elbows. “Yang seems great with him though.”

  
  


Weiss agrees with nothing more than a hum and a nod. 

At some point, Ruby, Weiss and Sun went out to explore the island. They’ve never gone past the other side of the river, it wasn’t something that they thought would be necessary since they have what they needed. Weiss, however, raised her concerns about the lack of fiber intake of some of them. 

Yang was left behind to look after Adrian, seeing as the others might be gone for a considerable amount of time, if Sun were to be left with him, he’d get fussy at the fact that she wasn’t there. 

Right now, Adrian was in Yang’s lap as he watched in wonder how she was weaving together rope. As was a child’s curiosity, he would sometimes grab at the fiber, wanting to see if he might as well be able to do such feats of wonder. Yang merely continued on with patience, telling Adrian no whenever he was disrupting the work she’s doing. 

Although, like any child would be when denied their entertainment, he was not happy about it. 

“I know, you wanna make rope with me, right?” Yang said, ruffling his hair. “Just be a bit more patient okay? This is going to be a surprise for you.” 

“Soup rise?” Adrian asked and looked confused as Yang giggled. 

“Sur-prise,” Yang said again, emphasizing the syllables. “It means I have a gift for you.” 

“Gip!” Adrian cheered, smiling toothily. 

Blake sat near them a couple of feet away. It was mesmerizing to watch how Yang weaved together the fibers with such practiced ease. Weiss was still new to it, not as much experience as the two sisters, and Ruby would speedrun it but would still be sturdy and reliable enough to be used, despite the rough look to it. Yang, however, even when making it almost as fast as her little sister, was careful and precise. 

The toddler on her lap had lost interest in the rope making process, occupying himself with the various amounts of rocks and seashells that Ruby gathered. It was a ploy, on her part, on trying to get the child to warm up to her. It worked, in a way. This time he didn’t ignore her, but would interact with Ruby from time to time. He would still rather have Sun or Yang carry him. 

“What do you think they’re doing right now?” Blake asked out loud, leaning back against her hands. 

“Honestly?” Yang said with a knowing smile. Blake doesn’t know why, but something in her stirred at the sight. “I think Weiss is having an aneurysm because of those two.” 

-x-

  
  


"What? No!”

“That was a buffalo,” 

“But aren't female buffalos cows tho?” 

"Then why isn't it called cow’s milk, Ruby?” 

“I- well-...I don’t know!” Ruby threw her hands into the air. “It’s like a buffalo cow!” 

“You have got to be kidding me,” Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. “That concussion has made you lose more brain cells than you already have!”

“They’re like buffalo cows, I guess. Like how a buffalo is a cow and a cow isn’t a buffalo,” 

“That’s...Ruby, this entire notion is ridiculous,”

“Think about it!” Ruby’s laugh was contagious and Sun couldn’t but let out a chuckle. “It’s like how a rectangle is a square but a square is not a rectangle!”

“You!” Weiss points at him. “Don’t encourage her!” 

Sun holds up his hands, hoping to appease the angry Weiss, but with the way Ruby snorted he bursts out laughing. 

“Insufferable!” Weiss yelled, stomping her foot. “ Both of you are undeniably insufferable!”

-x-

“I can imagine that,” Blake grinned, imagining a red-faced and annoyed Weiss. 

Adrian huffed, throwing the shell in his hands. He squirms in Yang’s lap and gets out of it. He stands, hands patting his clothes free of sand with a little bit of help from Yang. 

“Ungry,” He said, pointing at the bucket still placed over the firepit. 

Over time, Adrian has known the bucket is where the food usually is. Boiled bananas and leftover fish are placed in it and has seen everybody get them from there. An incident has occured when Sun removed the bucket from the fire and placed it down. Everyone was busy minding their own business and passing the time when Adrian who was hungry decided to go near the bucket. Thankfully, by then it had cooled down considerably, but it still left the small toddler scared of touching it ever again. 

“I got it,” Blake said, taking a banana from the bucket, finding the softest one she could find. 

Adrian hid behind Yang as Blake approached, kneeling on one knee and holding out the bananas to him. The small boy peered from behind his safe corner, looking up to her with caution. Blake remained patient the whole time, letting Adrian come close on his own volition. 

With a little help from Yang in the form of a hand on the small of his back, a small nudge forward. Adrian slowly walked forward, hands clutching at the large green shirt he wore, almost like a dress. 

Slowly Adrian takes the banana from Blake. 

“What do you say, little man?” Yang asked softly. 

“Tanks,” He mumbled before handing the banana to Yang and hiding behind her once again. 

Yang laughed, ruffling his hair and praising him for having good manners. 

“Have you ever thought about having kids?” Blake inquired, sitting back down, although a little close now to the other two. “You seem great at handling Adrian.” 

“At first not really, I had enough of raising a kid when I was still a kid myself,” Yang said, peeling the banana, breaking off a small piece and handing it to Adrian. “I’m also scared that I might just be like my own… mom.” 

“Your mom?” 

“Yeah, well Ruby and I are only half siblings. My birth mother ran before I could even get to know her.” Yang sighed, wiping the corner of Adrian’s mouth with her thumb. “I was scared that I might end up like her. But then I look at how Ruby turned out, yeah I got help from my uncle and from dad a little later on. It doesn’t change the fact that I practically raised Ruby and how she’s great. Growing up to be an amazing person, makes me realize that I’m not my mom and I will never be like her.”

Blake understands, in a way, some people fear that they will become like their parents because of the bond they share by blood. Personalities and such are bound to be inherited. Although, in Blake’s case, she’s scared she will never be like her parents. Would never achieve to be the kind of people that they are and what they stand for. For Blake, she feels as though she has failed them both as a person and a daughter. 

“That’s great that you’re able to persevere and live your own life by how you want to, instead of the actions of others,” She said. 

If only she could say the same. She was nothing more than a person who runs and cowers when troubles occur. Fleeing before it could do her more harm than it already has. A hand on her hip had her take a shuddering breath and closed her eyes. 

“I wish I could have that strength,” She continued. “I’ve been doing nothing but run, instead of facing my fears. Like how I’m now running to my parents from the man who I once respected.” 

Yang watched her, her eyes briefly landing on the hand on her hip. Blake tightened the grip she had on her shirt, biting her lower lip. 

“Hurt?” Adrian asked. 

“Sometimes,” The corner of Blake’s mouth twitched, a small grin forming. “But it’s better now.” 

The statement was not enough to convince the small child. He stood, walking over to Blake, giving the remains of his snack. She accepted the small offering from him as he leaned down and pressed his lips against the hand over her hip with a loud “mwah”. He stands up, hands held towards Blake, hands clenched and made an action that seemed like he was throwing away something repeatedly. 

“Hurt away!” He exclaimed. “Shoo!” 

Blake blinked at him, a laugh bubbling its way up her throat. 

It was clear that Adrian had mistaken Blake’s pain as something physical, a child as young as him does not understand the various forms that it has and Blake hoped he would not experience them, but she knew life wasn’t that merciful. Though the sentiment, the action of a child that knew how pain operated, how painful it can be was something that touched Blake. 

“Thank you,” Blake said, smiling at him. “It doesn’t hurt as much now.” 

“That’s so nice of you, Adrian.” Yang pulled the small boy into a hug, kissing the top of his head. Adrian giggled, wrapping his arms around Yang’s neck. “You’re great.” 

Yang continued on her task, weaving the rope together as Adrian occupied himself with stacking rocks. It was nice, just sitting there as they enjoyed the sea breeze and relaxed. The last few weeks they were a struggle for all of them, only resting at night once they had done what they needed to survive.

“I think you’re strong too, by the way,” She says after a while. 

Blake kept her eyes on the horizons, a blush slowly creeping to her cheeks and hoping Yang would think nothing more of it than sunburn. 

“I don’t know what you have gone through, or what you had to do to be here,” Blake finally dared herself to look. Yang had stopped her little project, looking at Blake with a smile. “But running away doesn’t mean you’re a coward. Sometimes, the only thing you could do when faced with a problem is to go around it. God knows how much danger I’ve put myself in by running in head first at my problems.” 

  
  


“Strength isn’t measured with how hard you can fight that problem,” Yang looked passed Blake and when she turned to look back, the others came into view from the tree line.

She hadn’t heard them, too engrossed with the conversation she had with Yang. It looked like the group was slightly successful in their endeavor, with Sun carrying a basket with what looked like a few fruits that they might have found.

“It’s measured in a way when you think you can’t go on, but you keep going anyway.” Blake looked back at Yang, one hand gripping her forearm as Yang spoke. “The way I see it, you’ve fought hell and back for yourself to feel free and I think that’s true strength.” 

-x-

After that day they had to themselves, the two had grown close to each other. Whether either of them noticed it or not, they didn’t mind it at all. They tend to both be seen with each other most of the time and it was to the point that even Adrian was no longer wary of Blake, sometimes even he would prefer to be with her than with Sun. 

That being, when Adrian had ran towards Blake after going to the river to see if they had caught any fish, Weiss was bursting with jealousy, crossing her arms with a huff and grumbling as Ruby patted her back in consolation. 

Weiss' worries were alleviated a few days after their expedition, both Ruby and Blake had finally graduated from their constipated state. The papayas that they have found were an answered prayer for her and had left Weiss more relaxed. 

Although a new development rose shortly after that. It wasn’t in the form of someone finally finding them, unfortunately for them, nor was it their food source running low. No, what happened apparently, was that Yang and Blake were bringing Adrian to the river for a bath once he had eaten breakfast and had found Ruby and Sun, in each other’s arms,  _ kissing _ at the river instead of doing laundry like they were supposed to do. 

“Well, that’s a thing,” Yang said out loud as Blake placed a hand over Adrian’s eyes.

Ruby and Sun startled at Yang’s voice, jumping away from each other that it astounded Yang at the speed of which they moved. Adrian huffed, struggling to remove Blake’s hand from his eyes. Once she did remove her hand, he praised himself of his victory with a loud ‘whoop!’ 

“Y-Yang!” Ruby exclaimed, her face a beet red. 

Sun rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, face equally flushed. “H-Hi?” 

The thing was, Yang knew Ruby was an adult, she can make her own choices and deal with the consequences that come with it. If she ever needed help, as her older sister, Yang would do everything in her power to help. She trusted her sister, knew that she could handle herself just fine. Yang knows Ruby like she knows her own mind. Ruby didn’t need Yang to coddle her, and Yang knows she can’t really do much once Ruby had set her mind on something. She just had to rely on her faith that Ruby had thought this through. 

“You’ve been bothering me for weeks about a forest wife and here you are getting a forest husband,” Yang said, shaking her head.

“Forest wife?” Blake said, confused and yet intrigued.

“Husband?” Sun said incredulously

The statement was enough for Ruby’s face to go completely red, going up to the tip of her ears, down to her neck and if it were not for her shirt, it seemed it also reached down to her chest. She lets out a shrill sound at the back of her throat, almost akin to a kettle. She crouched down, hiding her face behind her knees. 

“Oh wow, been a while since I saw you that red,” Yang laughed. “I think the last time was when you were dating Penny.” 

“Huuuuuuuuuush!!!” Ruby yell was muffled behind her knees, but she didn’t look up at them. 

Yang chuckled at her response, only stopping when Blake elbowed her side. Although, she was equally as entertained by the situation. Adrian wiggled in Yang’s arms, wanting to be let down and his wishes were complied. 

Once his feet hit the ground he made his way to Sun, almost tripping over a rock that caused them all to dash forward to catch him in time. He righted himself before he would fall face first into the ground, jumping into Sun’s arms with a gleeful shout. 

“You here for a bath, kiddo?” Sun asked. 

“Uh huh,” He said happily then points at Ruby, “Mato.” 

“What’s mato, Adrian?” Blake asked, walking up to them along with Yang. 

“Yummy snack,” He answered. “I like in my sammiches.” 

“Ah,” Yang said, once realization hits her, with a laugh. She pointed at Ruby who still had traces of a blush on her face. “Tomato.”

-x-

That night when everyone was asleep, Ruby was out sitting on the sand in front of the hut. Her knees were pulled up against her chest as she gazed out into the night sky. Her cheek rested against one knee, arms wrapped around her legs. The night time breeze had her shivering slightly against the cold, but she stayed put, just looking up at the stars up above. 

“You know, you were pretty obsessed with space as a kid,” Yang commented, sitting down beside her. Legs spread out, hands behind her as she leaned against them. “Pretty sure you wanted to be an astronaut.”

“Wall-E got me so hyped up about it,” Ruby chuckled, letting herself fall to the side and lean against Yang. 

“Please tell me, this isn’t like those times you jumped into things without thinking?” Yang asked, pulling her close in a one arm hug. 

“Oh you mean, like you?” Ruby playfully jabbed. 

“Yeah,” She said, smiling softly. “Just making sure you don’t make the same mistakes as I did. That’s what big sisters do, we fuck up first so the gremlins won’t have to.”

“I remember dressing up as a gremlin for halloween,” Ruby giggled. “You did a great job with it.” 

“Anything for you,” Yang said, kissing the top of her head. “Just- Just be careful, alright?” 

“Are you gonna give him ‘the talk’?” Ruby asked. 

“Nah, I trust you.” Yang shook her head. “I will beat him up if he does something wrong.” 

-x- 

They never snuck around about their relationship anymore. Once Yang and Blake knew they didn’t bother hiding it and had explicitly shown their relationship by giving each other a peck on the cheek or lips or holding hands. Weiss was surprised by the new development, reeling back for a moment to confirm what she was seeing wasn’t a hallucination. 

Weiss looked at Yang then, an eyebrow raised asking if she knew and Yang nodded with a shrug and a smile as if to say ‘what can you do?’. She huffed, still lightly not liking Sun all that much, but he did save Ruby when she was drowning and has been a huge help for them while being stuck in the ocean. Weiss wouldn’t say it outright, but she appreciates Sun more than she lets on and would express that gratitude in small ways, things you wouldn’t think twice about the meaning of its actions. 

At the moment Sun and Ruby were sitting on a log, hands clasped together and Yang leaned in close to Blake who had Adrian in her lap, hand covering her mouth as she whispered. 

“They’re so indecent,” She said and Blake snickered. “Holding hands? There’s a child here!” 

Blake laughed, one hand covering her mouth to stifle it. Adrian looked up at her, intrigued and wanting to know what was funny. Then his eyes caught the two ears a top of Blake’s head and his curiosity got the best of him as he reached up to grab one of them. 

Before he could get a hold of them, Yang grabbed his hand, an inch away from the appendages. 

“Hey there, kiddo,” Yang reprimanded softly. “You can’t do that. You have to ask first.” 

He tilts his head to the side, somewhat confused why he was stopped on his endeavors of entertainment. The pretty ears were very enticing to him and he just wanted to admire and play with them. 

“You have to ask before you can touch these first,” Blake said pointing at her ears and letting them wiggle. Adrian’s eyes widened at the sight, just like his reaction when he saw Sun’s tail. 

“Touch?” He asked. 

“Go ahead, but be gentle okay?” Blake lowered her head for him, feeling his hands wrap around her ears. 

He had grabbed it a litt

“Gently now,” Yang stepped in then, guiding Adrian’s hand on how to properly hold them. “You don’t want to hurt Blake, right?” 

“Nuh uh,” He said. 

-x-

The surprise that Yang was making for Adrian was for his birthday. That morning, she had woken up early when the sun hadn't made its appearance yet. As quietly as she could she got up from her cot, placing a large tshirt over Adrian to keep him warm. 

Yang shivered slightly against the cold, but pushed through anyways to make this day special for him. He lost his parents and he’s on an island with people he doesn’t know. All she wanted for him to at least have his birthday a happy occasion despite the circumstances they were in. 

She took the rope she had made and the difference between the previous ones was that this was thicker, weaving together multiple ropes to make a stronger and sturdier one. With a little help from Ruby, she had made a small basket that could fit a small child in. Holes were made at the bottom where his legs could go through. 

The ropes have been securely tied to a thick branch of a tall tree, with Yang balancing herself onto the branch with both legs to the side. She tugged and pulled at the rope, making sure that they would not come undone at the weight of a person. If it could handle her then there would be no problem with Adrian using it. 

Yang dropped down from her perch with a loud thud and she winced, looking back at the hut and hoping no one had woken up from the sound, most especially a toddler. After waiting for a few more moments and no one came out, she continued on her task. She had prayed that the basket would hold, even if it was just for a few hours, just something to make Adrian’s day. 

In the process of tying the basket, the hair on the back of her neck stood. 

“Boo,” Someone whispered behind her. 

“Fuck,” Yang almost yelled, clamping her mouth shut with her hand and glare sent towards the feline fauna before her and hissed. “You’re such a little shit.” 

“What are you doing up so early?” Blake asked, ignoring the insult with a smirk then her eyes landed on the basket tied only to one end, swinging. “Is that what I think it is?” 

“Yeah, it’s a swing,” Yang rubbed the back of her neck, her cheeks flaring. “I thought, I don’t know, that Adrian might like it.”

“Of course, what child doesn’t like to be thrown into the air,” Blake grinned. “Need help?” 

“I got it,” Yang shook her head, then went back to her task. “Speaking of which, why are  _ you  _ awake?” 

“I woke up to Sun’s tail under my nose,” Blake sighed tiredly. “I don’t know how Ruby sleeps through that.” 

“Ruby can sleep through a zombie apocalypse,” Yang chuckled. “The kid was a nightmare to wake up, but she can wake up early for school just fine.” 

When Ruby and Sun’s relationship was out and in the open, Weiss insisted that they should not be sleeping next to each other. The declaration had of course, elicited the infamous pout and puppy dog eyes. Years of being with Ruby had Weiss glaring at her in response, unmoved by the display. Sun had agreed to Weiss’ terms that they switch places and reluctantly, Ruby did as well. 

In return, however, those two had spent more time together than they did before barely leaving each other’s side for days on end. Ruby wasn’t necessarily a clingy person, but she always enjoyed the company of whoever she chose to pursue romantically. It was something Yang noticed, even at a young age. The way that she would express how she liked a person was through quality time and acts of service.

“I want to mess with Ruby actually by making a wedding,” Yang said as she finished tying the basket. Then she copied the posture of a wedding officiant. “I now pronounce you, forest wife and husband.” 

Blake snorted, hiding her smile behind her hand. Yang loved coaxing that out of her, her small giggles and snorts when she’s amused. Her favorite though, will always be when she laughs, how wide her smile would be when she did. She wasn’t going to lie, she was really trying hard to make her laugh every chance she got.

“So what, Ruby was persuading you to make Weiss your forest wife?” Blake asked, hip cocked to the side as she crossed her arms, one brow raised and a teasing smirk on her lips. 

Yang laughed awkwardly, cheeks heating up as she rubbed the back of her neck. “N-Not exactly, no.” 

Blake looked at her curiously at that statement and for a moment was confused. Yang and Weiss were very close and have known each other for years, it would have made sense to Blake if they had somehow harbored feelings towards each other and just haven’t acted up on it before. After a pregnant pause, Blake’s ears shot up, her cheeks tinged a slight pink. She raised a fist to her mouth, trying to hide the small smile on her face, flattered that Yang liked her. 

Yang pursed her lips, hands behind her back as she rocked on her feet. “Yeah…” 

“I- uh,” Blake said hesitantly. “I’m flattered, really, but I-I just got out of a relationship…” 

“No- uh yeah, I get it,” Yang nodded, running a hand through her hair. “Don’t feel obligated at all to reciprocate or anything. You do what you want to do.” 

It was hard to turn down someone as nice as Yang. She’s respecting how she felt about the situation, how she was struggling with herself internally at the moment. Not at all how he had approached her, how he guilt tripped her into being together. 

“Thank you,” Blake said softly, hugging herself. 

“Hey,” Yang said, placing a hand on her arm. “I hope this doesn’t make anything awkward between us. I still enjoy spending time with you.” 

“Yeah, no,” Blake smiled. “We’re still good. I enjoy your company too.” 

A loud cry had broken the moment between them, Adrian calling for his mother. Yang hadn’t intended to be gone for so long, she had planned to be back before he would wake up as when waking up alone he tended to get really upset. 

“I-uh I should probably go and take care of him.” 

It was later in the morning, a little after breakfast that Yang had brought Adrian to the swing that she had made. The look on his face at the surprise, with his eyes wide and jaw dropped he immediately wiggled his way out of Yang’s arms. He ran towards the swing, holding onto it and jumping in glee. 

“In! In!” He yelled excitedly. 

“I got you, I got you,” Yang laughed. “Keep your hands on the rope, okay?” 

“Wope?” He said, confused. 

“Hold this. Really tight,” Yang guided his hands to the rope. “Don’t let go.” 

Weiss stayed close by, eyeing the contraption diligently. She, of course, had faith in Yang and Ruby’s skills in crafting, but she was still careful, ready to act swiftly if things go wrong. Even she wouldn’t dare ruin the happy moment Adrian was having, especially when it was his birthday. 

Lifting him up and placing inside the basket, everybody held their breath as Yang let go, holding the rope to keep it still for the moment. Adrian was basically jumping excitedly in his seat, wanting to be pushed on the swing. When the rope held and the basket didn't fall apart, everybody breathed out a sigh of relief. Sun pulled the swing back, pushing lightly to get a slow momentum going. The toddler laughed loudly, wanting more. 

“Up!” He said. “Up!” 

Sun obliged, pulled him back farther, getting a stronger momentum when he pushed Adrian’s swing. He shrieked joyfully, enjoying the thrill of the ride. 

“Wait,” Blake said, the ear atop her head standing up straight and in attention. “Hold on, do you guys hear that?” 

Yang stopped the momentum of the swing, hushing Adrian when he let out a disapproving whine of his play time being disturbed. Everyone else kept an eye out on the horizon, eyes squinting to see anything different. 

“What do you hear?” Ruby whispered. 

“I-I don’t know,” Blake turned her head, she had heard something, it wasn’t the usual thing one would find in the wilderness. “I thought I heard- Get the smoke!” 

Yang was the first to react to her command. Dashing towards the boat and rummaging through the various items they have placed in it. Disregarding everything inside and throwing them behind her in search of the small orange canister. Without a second thought, she removed the red plastic cover at the top and pulled the string within. The can hissed, grey smoke moving out of the top, slowly it turned to an orange color. Not a moment to lose, Yang gripped the can tightly and threw it as far as she can into the water as it started to let out thick plumes of orange smoke. 

“Weiss!” Ruby said, her eyes lighting up like they always did when coming up with a great idea. She reached into her shirt, pulling out the bright red whistle she kept around her neck. “The whistles!” 

Yang and Weiss followed suit, taking out their own yellow and blue whistles and blowing as hard as they could. The sound irritated Blake’s ears, the way it pierced its way into her head, but endured it nonetheless, especially if it would help. She could hear it now, amidst the sounds of the whistles, a helicopter. Blake took Adrian from his swing, who was confused at the sudden commotion among the adults, covering his ears with his hands as the sounds overwhelmed him. 

Their eyes scanned the skies, the sound growing close and closer around them but they still couldn’t find it anywhere. Frustrated, Sun had decided to climb up on one of the coconut trees close to them, bringing the bright pink blanket and tying it around his neck. 

Weiss tried to say something, but was still blowing her whistle. Sun ignored her, taking the risk of going up the tree without the rope, climbing quickly with the use of the crevices that he had made along the tree. He shields his eyes from the sun with his hand, his tail wrapped tightly on the tree.

“There!” He shouts, pointing towards a mountain. To them, however, they could not see where it was due to the forest. He took off the blanket from his shoulders, waving it high above his head. 

The sounds of its rotors grew louder and louder with each passing second, and they felt elated knowing that help had finally arrived. The three women kept blowing their whistles, with Yang and Ruby waving their arms as a white and red helicopter flew over them on its tail and had the words “Search and Rescue” with the Mistral flag right beside it. 

Blake shielded Adrian as sand flew everywhere as the helicopter hovered above them. Joyous cheers and shouts erupted in the group, with Yang throwing her arms around Weiss and Ruby, her eyes welling up with tears. 

The toddler in her hands tugged at her shirt, pointing at the helicopter with wide eyes, saying something, but the sounds of the rotors were too loud for Blake to hear what he was saying. Instead, she just smiled at him, nodding at whatever he had said.

Rope was thrown from up above, with two of the search and rescue operators jumping down. They both wore an orange jumpsuit, and black helmets with matching sunglasses.

“Are you part of the SS Beacon cruise?” One of them yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth to sound louder. 

“Yes!” Sun yelled back. “Yes we are!” 

“Okay!” The operator nodded, he then looked over the group, counting. “We can only get three on board at a time. The mother and child first! We have sent word to the naval ship to send another on its way here to pick the others up! ” 

Blake was about to correct the man for the misunderstanding, but realized how unimportant it was at the moment. She stepped toward the ropes, letting the other operator assist her in putting on the harness, nodding as he explained how to stay balanced while having a child in her arms since Adrian refused to be separated from her. 

Once inside the helicopter, Blake looked down at the remaining group, huddled together and discussing. It didn’t take too long for them to decide who was going with her first and Blake felt a sense of happiness watching as Yang jogged towards the ropes and getting set up with the harness. One of the operators stayed behind with the others as they set off and Adrian held out his hands towards Yang, wanting to sit with her. 

“We’re going home,” Blake said, relief washing over her entire body.

“Yeah,” Yang held on to Adrian, who stood on her lap and looked out the window. “We’re lucky to have made it through that.” 

They sat in silence after that, just looking out the window at the vast ocean. The weeks that they spent on the island were something Blake would never forget. The nights that they spent together around the fire, just talking or just silently enjoying each other’s company. She would probably miss the times that she and Weiss would bond over learning survival skills that the two sisters were teaching them or the nights Ruby and her would stay out late to watch and admire the stars. Even Sun’s snore would be something she would miss. 

Blake's gaze landed on Yang, who was now cradling a sleepy Adrian, his head resting on her shoulder. Share realized, the moments she would truly miss were the times spent with Yang. How it was so easy for them to get along, how at ease they are to be with each other. 

“Yang?”

“Yeah?” 

”I was thinking,” Blake bit her lower lip as Yang patiently waited for her to continue. “I’m not ready for a relationship, not anytime soon, but…” 

“But?”

“But if you’re willing to wait, while I try to sort out my life, to keep in contact,” Blake breathed in slowly. “And if you’re still interested. Would you like to go on a date with me by then?” 

There was no immediate response and Yang showed no signs on what her thoughts on Blake’s proposition would be. Soon, anxiety was starting to creep in, fearing that she was asking for too much, making her wait, making her waste Yang’s time. Who knows how long it would take for Blake to be ready, might take months, maybe even years. 

“Blake?” Yang said and it took all her self control not to flinch. “Take all the time you need, sweetheart. I’ll be here for you.” 

She felt her heart soar at the words as her eyes welled up with tears. She reached up to wipe them away as she laughed. The joy she felt at hearing those words, how understanding Yang is and how she wasn’t going anywhere just because of the baggage that Blake carries on her shoulders. Yang is basically saying she would be willing to wait for her, that Blake was a person worth waiting for. 

Blake didn't think she’d lose so much in her life and gain so much more after. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank the people that has been with me throughout this whole ordeal. It means a lot to me, that even when I doubted myself, when I struggled with my own problems, there are people out there who put a lot of faith in me. Having friends like you guys in my life is one of the greatest things that ever happened to me, especially in 2020. 
> 
> So thank you; to my irl friends, the beanery, the comfy crew, and most especially my fiance. I am grateful for every little thing that all of you have done.
> 
> I am dedicating this fic to a special friend of mine. She was looking forward to read this fic. I may not be satisfied with this, but I know that no matter what I write she would love to read what I have created. She may not be here to see this, but I hope this story would be something she would have enjoyed.


End file.
